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LIBRARY 

OF  THK 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


OIF'T 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions  No.  &*fi$-      Cla^s  No. 


No.  3. 

HOW  SHALL  MAI  BE  JUST  WITH 
GOD? 


BY 


ALBERT    BARNES. 


DEPOSITORIES: 

PHILADELPHIA:   PUBLICATION  HOUSE,  386  CHESTNUT  STREET 
NEW  YORK:   IVISON  &  PHINNEY,  178  PULTON  ST. 


Entered  according  to  del  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854,  by 

WILLIAM  PURGES,  Treasurer, 

in  trust  for  the  Presbyterian  Publication  Committee,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District 
Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  AND  CO. 

PHILADELPHIA. 
PRINTED  BY  I.  ASHMEAD. 


No.  3. 


H0¥  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 


I.  The  importance  and  difficulty  of  the  inquiry,  How 
man  can  be  justified. 

THE  question  "How  shall  man  be  justified  with  God," 
(Job  xxv.  4.)  proposed  by  an  Eastern  Sage,  may  be  regard- 
ed as  an  inquiry  by  man — l>y  human  nature.  It  expresses 
the  deep  workings  of  the  human  soul  in  all  ages,  on  one  of 
the  most  important  and  difficult  of  all  subjects.  The  ques- 
tion means,  How  shall  man  be  regarded  and  treated  as  righte- 
ous by  his  Maker  ?  What  methods  shall  he  take  to  secure 
such  treatment  ?  What  can  he  do,  if  any  thing,  to  commend 
himself  to  the  favourable  regards  of  a  holy  God  ?  What  can 
he  do,  if  any  thing,  to«make  amends  for  the  past  ?  What  can 
he  do,  if  any  thing,  to  turn  away  future  wrath  ?  Can  he  vin- 
dicate himself  before  the  Eternal  Throne,  for  what  he  has 
done  ?  If  not,  can  he  see  how  it  is  consistent  for  God  to 
treat  him  as  righteous  ?  These  questions  meet  us  every- 
where, and  enter  into  and  mould  all  the  forms  of  religion  on 
earth.  The  inquiry,  as  illustrating  and  expressing  the  feel- 
ings of  human  nature,  may  be  considered  with  reference  to 
two  points  : — its  importance,  and  its  difficulty. 

I.    The  importance  of  the  inquiry. 

(1.)  Its  importance  will  be  seen  by  this  consideration — 
No  one  can  be  saved  unless  he  is  just,  or  righteous,  in  the  sight 
of  God.  Unless  there  is  some  way,  by  which  God  can  con- 
sistently regard  and  treat  us  as  just  or  righteous,  it  is  im- 
possible to  believe  that  we  can  enter  heaven  when  we  die. 


4  HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WjTTH  GOD? 

Unless  man  is  personally  so  holy  that  he  cannot  be  charged 
with  guilt;  or  can  justify  himself  by  denying  or  disproving 
the  charge  of  guilt  ]  or  can  vindicate  himself  by  showing  that 
his  conduct  is  right ;  or  can  appropriate  to  himself  the  merit 
of  another  as  if  it  were  his  own,  no  one  can  believe, — no  one 
does  believe — that  he  can  enter  heaven.  Probably  there  is  no 
conviction  of  the  human  mind  more  deep  and  universal  than 
this,  and  every  man,  whether  conscious  to  himself  of  acting 
en  it  or  not,  makes  it  elementary  in  his  practical  belief.  If 
any  one  is  disposed  to  call  this  proposition  in  question,  or  if 
he  is  not  conscious  of  acting  on  it,  he  will  see  that  it  must 
be  true,  by  looking  at  it  for  a  single  moment.  The  proposi- 
tion is,  that  no  man  can  be  saved  unless  he  is  just,  or  right- 
eous, in  the  sight  of  God.  Can  God  save  a  wicked  man  as 
such  and  on  account  of  his  wickedness  ?  Can  he  hold  him 
up  to  the  universe  as  one  who  ought  to  be  saved  ?  Can  he 
take  the  profane  man,  the  scoffer,  the  adulterer  and  the  mur- 
derer, to  heaven,  and  proclaim  himself  as  their  patron  and 
friend  ?  Can  he  connect  a  life  of  open  wickedness  with  the 
rewards  of  eternal  glory  ?  Nothing  can  be  more  clear  than 
that  if  a  man  is  made  happy  forever  "in  heaven,  there  will  be 
some  good  reason  for  it,  and  that  reason  cannot  be  that  he 
was  regarded  as  an  unrighteous  person.  There  will  be  a 
fitness  and  propriety  in  his  being  saved ;  there  will  be  some 
reason  why  it  will  be  proper  for  God  to  regard  and  treat  him 
as  righteous. 

This  view,  which  is  perhaps  sufficiently  obvious,  may  be 
illustrated  by  a  reference  to  a  human  government.  No  just 
government  could  become  the  patron  and  friend  of  the  pirate 
and  the  murderer,  or  bestow  its  rewards  on  one  who,  in  all 
respects,  deserved  to  meet  the  penalty  of  the  laws.  On  this 
belief  also,  everj  man  acts  in  reference  to  his  own  salvation. 
Each  one  has  a  firm  conviction  that  no  man  can  be  saved 
unless  he  is  just  in  the  sight  of  God.  A  man  when  he  thinks 
of  being  saved,  always  either  thinks  that  he  has  kept  the  law 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH   GOD?  5 

of  God ;  or  that  he  has  a  good  excuse  for  not  complying  with 
it;  or  that  he  can  make  reparation  by  penances,  pilgrimages, 
sacrifices,  or  fastings;  or  that  he  can  appropriate  to  himself 
the  merit  of  another.  He  never  thinks  of  finding  favour 
with  God  as  a  transgressor,  or  on  account  of  his  crimes ;  he 
never  supposes  that  his  iniquity  can  be  the  foundation  of  his 
salvation.  God  made  the  human  soul,  and  he  so  made  it, 
that  it  never  could  believe  that  he  would  save  a  man  because 
he  was  wicked,  or  unless  there  was  some  way  in  which  he 
could  be  regarded  and  treated  as  righteous. 

(2.)  Secondly,  the  importance  of  the  inquiry  is  seen  from 
the  testimony  of  man  everywhere.  Man  is  apparently  great- 
ly indifferent  to  religion,  and  it  often  seems  impossible  to 
arouse  his  attention  to  the  great  and  momentous  questions 
connected  with  it.  But,  taking  the  race  together,  he  is  not  so 
indifferent  to  the  subject  as  he  appears,  and  could  we  know 
all  the  secret  thoughts  and  feelings  of  each  individual,  we 
should  find  that  his  indifference  is  often  in  appearance  only. 
There  are  workings  of  the  soul  which  are  carefully  excluded 
from  public  view.  There  are  thoughts,  which  every  man  has, 
of  which  he  would  not  wish  others  to  know.  There  are 
deep,  agitating,  protracted  questionings  resulting  in  settled 
conviction,  or  tossing  the  soul  upon  a  restless  sea,  which  men 
would  wish  to  hide  from  their  best  friends.  There  is  often 
a  deep  interest  in  a  man's  mind  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
when  his  whole  soul  seems  to  the  world  torpid  and  inactive, 
or  when  he  would  repel  your  inquiries,  or  when  he  would 
seem  as  "calm  as  a  summer's  morning." 

A  very  slight  acquaintance  with  the  human  mind,  or  with 
the  history  of  opinions,  is  all  that  is  needful  to  see  the  im- 
portance which  the  inquiry,  on  the  subject  of  justification, 
has  assumed  in  the  view  of  man. 

(a)  It  was  seen  in  the  investigations  of  ancient  philoso- 
phers "How  shall  man  be  just  with  God  ?"  was  the  ques- 
tion which  pressed  itself  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 


6  HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  wllH  GOD? 

speakers  in  the  book  of  Job,  and  it  was  a  question  which  was 
echoed  and  re-echoed  in  the  whole  heathen  philosophic  world. 
Many  who  are  profound  and  patient  students  on  other  sub- 
jects, often  regard  investigations  on  the  subject  of  religion 
as  unworthy  their  attention.  They  think  them  appropriate 
themes  for  contending  theologians;  for  disputatious  and 
subtle  schoolmen ;  for  the  feeble  in  intellect,  or  for  the  dying; 
but  they  regard  them  as  having  slight  claims  on  a  philo- 
sophic mind.  But  would  they  go  and  take  lessons  of  the 
masters  of  science  and  of  profound  thought,  they  would  think 
differently.  Will  such  men  tell  us  what  points  of  inquiry 
have  most  occupied  the  attention  of  the  intellects  of  other 
times  ?  Will  they  refer  to  the  volumes  which  contain  the 
results  of  their  investigations  of  past  ages  ?  Will  they  let 
Socrates  once  more  speak,  and  Plato  give  utterance  to  his 
views,  and  Cicero  and  Seneca  declare  what  most  engrossed 
their  attention  ?  One  thing  they  will  find  in  all  the  past — 
one  grand  absorbing  question  they  will  meet  with  everywhere 
— one  query  to  which  all  physical  science  was  made  sub- 
servient. It  was  the  subject  of  religion ;  the  question  of 
man's  acceptance  with  God;  the  grounds  of  his  hope  of  fu- 
ture blessedness.  The  real  inquiry  among  thinking  men  of 
all  ages  and  lands  has  been,  "How  shall  man  be  just  with 
God?" 

(b)  The  same  earnest  searching  we  find  still  in  the 
heathen  world.  From  the  recorded  views,  and  the  religion 
of  the  heathen,  we  may  learn  much  about  man  when  he 
utters  his  sentiments  without  disguise ;  and  what  we  find 
universally  among  them,  we  may  regard  as  the  language  of 
human  nature.  Now  there  is  no  one  thing  expressed  with 
more  uniformity  or  more  earnestness  all  over  the  Pagan  world 
than  this  question,  "  How  may  we  be  just  with  God  ?"  It 
was  the  foundation  of  all  sacrifices,  penances,  pilgrimages, 
self-inflicted  mortifications.  All  these  things  were  intended 
so  to  make  expiation  for  sin,  or  so  to  appease  the  anger  of 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?       7 

the  gods,  that  they  who  thus  performed  the  rights  of  religion, 
might  be  regarded  and  treated  as  righteous.  Take  this  in- 
quiry away,  and  their  sacrifices  and  penances  would  be  un- 
meaning. Take  this  away,  and  the  earnestness  of  their  reli- 
gion would  soon  cease,  and,  degenerating  into  an  empty  form, 
would  of  itself  soon  expire. 

(c)  There  is  another  method  by  which  we  may  learn  the 
views  of  the  human  soul  about  the  importance  of  this  in- 
quiry. It  is  by  contemplating  the  soul  when  under  convic- 
tions of  sin,  and  reflecting  on  its  prospects  about  the  future 
world.  Then  there  is  no  thought  so  momentous  in  the  view 
of  the  mind  as  this,  "How  shall  a  man  be  just  with  God  ?" 
There  are  many  more  persons  in  this  state  than  is  commonly 
imagined.  There  is  probably  no  one  who  reaches  the  years 
of  mature  reflection,  before  whose  mind  this  inquiry  has  not 
at  some  period  assumed  an  engrossing  importance.  With 
almost  no  danger  of  error,  you  may  assume  of  every  man  that 
you  meet,  that  his  mind  either  has  been,  or  is  now  deeply  in- 
terested on  the  subject  of  his  salvation,  and  that  in  his  life 
there  are  periods  when  no  subject  appears  so  momentous  as 
this.  In  his  moments  of  solitary  musing,  or  in  a  time  of 
bereavement,  or  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  or  when 
remembered  truth  seems  to  come  with  new-armed  power  to 
his  soul,  or  when  the  recollection  of  guilt  seems  recalled  to 
him  by  some  invisible  agency,  or  when  lying  on  a  bed  of 
languishing,  this  great  inquiry  has  come  before  him,  "  How 
may  he  be  justified  before  his  Maker  ?"  How  may  the  guilt 
of  his  sins  be  washed  away?  How  may  he  be  regarded 
and  treated  as  a  righteous  man  ?  To  those  who  have  been 
in  this  state — and  who  has  not  been  ? — it  need  not  be  said, 
that  then  no  question  seems  more  momentous  than  this.  In 
time  of  revival  of  religion,  the  student  in  a  college  loses  his 
relish  for  his  ordinary  studies,  and  almost  the  capacity  to 
pursue  them,  absorbed  in  the  more  important  study  respect- 
ing salvation ;  the  merchant  loses  his  relish  for  his  gains, 


8  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE  JUST   WlifH   GOD? 

engrossed  in  the  greater  inquiry  how  he  may  obtain  everlast- 
ing life ;  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  mariner  feel  that 
they  can  hardly  pursue  their  wonted  employments,  for  a  more 
momentous  subject  has  engrossed  the  soul.  The  eye  may 
be  on  a  passage  in  Horace  or  Livy,  but  the  thought  shall  be 
elsewhere ;  and  the  hands  may  be  employed  in  labour,  but  it 
shall  be  performed  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  when  toil  is  pur- 
sued almost  unconscious  of  what  is  done.  The  calm,  fixed, 
steady,  contemplative  eye  of  the  student,  and  the  readiness 
of  the  man  of  business  to  leave  his  counting  room  and  place 
himself  under  religious  instruction,  show  with  what  intensity 
this  inquiry  has  seized  on  the  soul.  The  busy,  the  studious 
and  the  gay  often  become  entirely  absorbed  in  it,  and 
then  no  honour  of  scholarship,  no  amplitude  of  gain,  no  bril- 
liancy of  pleasure  or  amusement,  seem  comparable  in  value 
to  the  solution  of  the  question,  "  How  shall  man  be  just  with 
God  ?"  We  need  not  pause  here  to  consider  whether  this 
is  a  just  estimate  which  the  soul  thus  puts  on  the  magnitude 
of  this  subject.  We  are  concerned  only  in  getting  at  the 
language  of  man  himself  when  in  his  sober  moments.  It 
will  at  least  be  conceded  that  in  those  moments  of  profound 
absorbing  thought;  those  moments  when  men  of  all  classes  are 
willing  to  turn  aside  from  their  usual  pursuits ,  those  times 
when  the  great  inquiry  can  make  the  pleasures  of  the  ball- 
room and  the  scenes  of  the  splendid  amusement,  tasteless,  and 
can  loosen  the  hold  of  the  votaries  of  gold  on  their  gains, 
and  cause  the  ardent  student  to  turn  aside  from  his  books, 
that  then  the  human  mind  is  as  likely  as  ever  to  judge  cor- 
rectly of  the  importance  of  what  has  come  before  it.  Yet 
there  is  but  one  sentiment  then — that  this  question  absorbs 
and  annihilates  all  others. 

(3.)  There  is  another  consideration  which  shows  the  im- 
portance of  this  inquiry.  It  is,  that  the  views  that  are  en- 
tertained of  justification,  modify  and  shape  all  the  other  doc- 
trines of  religion.  It  is  the  central  doctrine  in  the  whole 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?       9 

system,  and  spreads  its  influence  over  every  other  opinion 
which  man  holds,  on  the  subject  of  salvation.  The  views 
entertained  on  this  subject,  distinguish  respectively  the  Prot- 
estant and  the  Papal  communities ;  divide  Protestants  them- 
selves into  two  great  parties,  evangelical  and  non-evangelical ; 
separate  heathens  from  Christians ;  give  form  to  all  the  sys- 
tems of  infidelity  and  Deism,  and  constitute  the  peculiarity 
of  every  man's  individual  faith.  When  it  is  known  definite- 
ly what  a  man  thinks  on  this  one  point,  it  may  be  known 
whether  he  is  a  Papist,  or  a  Protestant ;  a  Christian  or  an 
infidel ;  a  heathen  or  a  friend  of  the  Saviour ;  a  formalist  or 
a  devoted  servant  of  God.  Luther  did  not  say  too  much 
when  he  said  of  this  doctrine  of  justification,  that  it  was  the 
article  on  which  depended  the  permanency  or  ruin  of  the 
church,  and  with  a  sagacity  equal  to  that  of  Talleyrand,  when 
from  a  very  slight  matter  he  predicted  that  the  throne  of 
France  would  be  overturned,  Luther  saw  that  the  doctrine 
of  justification  would  meet  every  corruption  of  the  Papacy 
and  eventually  overturn  the  system.  The  fabric  of  the 
Papacy  is  an  ingenious  attempt,  originated  and  arranged 
under  the  auspices  of  a  higher  than  a  human  intellect,  though 
fallen,  to  delude  man  with  the  belief,  that  there  is  some 
other  way  by  which  he  may  be  justified  with  God,  than  by 
faith  in  the  Saviour.  The  whole  system  of  heathenism  is  an 
attempt  to  answer  the  question,  "How  man  maybe  justified 
with  God  ?"  The  systems  of  infidels,  and  of  men  who  are  de- 
pending on  their  own  morality,  or  relying  on  penances  and  pil- 
grimages, are  another  answer  which  is  given  to  the  question. 
If  the  observations  now  made  are  correct,  it  will  be 
conceded  that  this  doctrine  has  an  importance  which  cannot 
be  over-estimated.  If  it  be  so,  that  no  man  can  be  saved  who 
is  not  justified  in  the  sight  of  God ;  that  the  race  every- 
where, in  the  anxious  inquiry  of  sages,  in  the  systems  and 
sacrifices  of  the  heathen,  and  in  the  deep  working  of  the 
soul  rendering  every  other  pursuit  tasteless  and  valueless, 


10  HOW    SHALL    MAN    BE   JUST  jWITH   GOD  f 

has  shown  its  sense  of  its  importance,  and  that  it  spreads  its 
influence  over  every  form  of  belief,  the  importance  of  the 
inquiry  will  be  admitted. 

II.  The  second  point  proposed  to  be  noticed  as  prepara- 
tory to  a  consideration  of  the  subject  of  justification  is, — 
The  difficulty  of  the  inquiry. 

What  is  the  difficulty  ?  Why  has  the  human  mind  been 
so  much  perplexed  in  relation  to  it  ?  Why  may  not  God 
admit  man  to  heaven,  and  regard  and  treat  him  as  if  he  were 
righteous  ?  These  questions  can  be  answered  in  a  single  re- 
mark, and  the  whole  difficulty  may  then  be  seen  at  a  glance. 
It  is,  that  man  is  in  fact  not  righteous.  The  difficulty  is  to 
see  how  God  can  regard  and  treat  him  as  if  he  were.  It  is 
easy  to  see  how  {/"he  were  righteous,  God  could  treat  him 
so,  or  how  he  could  treat  him  as  a  sinner,  that  is,  according 
to  his  real  character.  But  how  shall  he  treat  him  different- 
ly from  what  he  deserves,  or  as  if  he  had  a  character  which 
it  is  known  he  has  not  ?  Whatever  theories  may  be  em- 
braced by  men,  or  whatever  opinions  may  be  entertained  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  it  is  true  as  a  matter  of  fact  that 
these  perplexities  have  been  felt  by  men,  that  they  have 
given  rise  to  grave  and  agitating  questions,  and  •  that  man 
has  not  felt  that  he  could  give  a  solution  that  was  wholly 
satisfactory.  There  is  no  inquiry  which  has  taken  hold  on 
man  everywhere,  under  all  forms  of  government  and  opinion, 
and  in  every  climate  and  amidst  every  degree  of  progress, 
which  has  not  had  some  real  foundation  in  the  nature  of 
things.  The  race,  in  its  soberest  moments,  does  not  busy 
itself  with  trifles,  and  especially  will  not  allow  itself  to  be 
troubled  and  tortured  by  questions  that  are  of  no  importance. 
The  difficulty  which  has  been  felt  on  this  subject  is  therefore 
not  imaginary,  but  from  the  fact  that  the  inquiry  has  been 
so  universal,  and  so  beyond  the  human  powers  satisfactorily 
to  explain,  it  is  clear  that  God  meant  that  it  should  be  re- 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      11 

garded  by  man  as  a  point  to  be  solved  only  by  divine  reve- 
lations. The  real  difficulties  in  the  case,  and  the  state  of  the 
human  mind  in  regard  to  them,  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
following  observations : — 

(1.)  There  was  the  impossibility  of  man's  vindicating 
himself  from  the  charges  of  guilt  brought  against  him.  If 
he  could  do  this,  all  would  be  clear,  for  God  will  not  con- 
demn the  innocent.  But  it  could  not  be  done.  These 
charges  were  brought  in  such  a  way,  and  enforced  in  such  a 
manner  that  man  could  not  so  meet  them  as  to  escape  the 
conviction  of  their  truth.  They  are  brought,  where  there  is 
a  revelation  by  God  himself  in  his  word ;  and  where  there 
is  not,  as  well  as  where  there  is,  by  conscience.  Man  is  told 
in  the  word  of  God  that  he  is  a  sinner ;  his  recollection  of 
what  he  has  done,  assures  him  that  it  is  so;  the  dealings 
of  God  with  him,  convince  him  that  there  must  be  some 
cause  of  alienation  between  himself  and  his  Maker;  and 
every  sick  bed,  and  every  grave,  and  every  apprehension  of 
future  wrath,  confirms  the  conviction.  If  man  were  to  un- 
dertake to  convince  himself  that  he  is  not  held  to  be  guilty, 
the  argument  could  not  be  derived  from  the  dealings  of  God 
with  him  in  this  world.  It  is  not  easy  for  a  man  to  satisfy 
himself  that  he  is  not  a  sinner,  when  the  earth  is  strewed 
with  the  dying  and  the  dead ;  when  his  best  friends  are  cut 
down  all  around  him;  when  he  himself  is  to  die,  and  when 
he  is  so  made  that  he  cannot  but  tremble  at  the  apprehen- 
sion of  the  judgment.  If  one  wished  to  construct  an  argu- 
ment to  prove  that  he  is  not  a  sinful  man,  and  that  man  can 
be  just  with  God,  he  would  desire  to  be  removed  to  some 
world  where  he  would  not  see  so  many  things  that  seem  to 
be  mementoes  of  human  depravity,  and  so  many  evidences 
that  his  Creator  regards  him  and  his  fellow-men  as  guilty. 
Men  have  everywhere  felt  this  difficulty.  There  is  no  one 
sentiment  in  which  men  more  uniformly  agree  than  in  this. 
Every  man  regards  every  other  man  as  a  sinner,  and  puts 


12      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  ^ITH  GOD? 

himself  on  his  defence  against  him,  for  his  locks,  and  bolts, 
and  notes,  and  bonds,  and  securities  all  demonstrate  this; 
and  every  man  knows  that  he  himself  also  is  a  sinner. 
There  is  nothing  of  which  he  is  better  apprised,  nothing  he 
believes  more  firmly  than  this.  There  is  not  a  living  man 
that  could  bear  the  revelation  of  his  thoughts  to  others  for  a 
single  day,  and  that  not  merely  because  others  have  no  right 
to  know  what  is  passing  in  his  mind,  but  because  he  feels 
that  they  are  wrong.  Confusion,  blushes,  shame,  and 
shrinking  would  diffuse  themselves  over  every  assembly,  and 
through  every  crowded  thoroughfare  in  the  streets  of  a  great 
city,  and  in  every  lonely  path  where  strangers  should  meet 
strangers,  if  each  one  knew  that  another  was  surveying 
closely  the  thoughts  of  his  heart,  and  saw  what  was  passing 
there.  If  every  man  felt  that  his  bosom  were  so  trans- 
parent that  all  the  workings  of  his  soul  could  be  observed 
by  others,  no  one  would  venture  out  of  his  chamber;  no  one 
would  move  along  the  pathways  where  he  might  encounter 
a  fellow  man;  the  thronged  places  of  business  would  be 
deserted,  and  our  great  and  crowded  cities  would  become 
like  the  cities  of  the  dead.  No  man  would  venture,  at  mid- 
night on  the  mountain  top,  or  on  the  lonely  prairie,  to  stretch 
out  his  hands  to  Heaven,  and  say,  "  I  am  pure  as  the  stars 
that  shine  upon  me,  or  as  the  God  that  made  them/'  So 
universal  is  the  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  so  certain  does 
every  man  feel,  in  his  sober  moments,  that  he  cannot  vindi- 
cate himself  before  God.  How  then  shall  man  be  just  with 
God? 

(2.)  There  is  the  difficulty  which  must  have  been  early 
apparent  to  men,  and  which  any  one  can  see  now,  if  the 
guilty  were  saved,  or  if  they  were  regarded  and  treated  as 
righteous.  How  could  this  be  done  ?  Man  does  not  do  it 

O 

himself,  in  reference  to  those  who  are  guilty,  and  how  could 
God?  No  father  feels  that  it  would  be  proper  to  regard 
and  treat  an  offending  child  as  if  he  were  obedient;  no 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE  JUST   WITH   GOD  ?  13 

friend  acts  thus  toward  one  who  professes  friendship ;  and 
no  government  acts  thus  toward  its  subjects.  All  order 
and  happiness  in  a  family  would  cease  at  once  if  this  were 
to  occur;  and  government  on  earth  would  be  unknown. 
There  is  a  great  principle  of  eternal  justice  which  seems 
engraved  in  the  convictions  of  the  soul,  that  every  one  ought 
to  be  treated  according  to  character,  and  that  there  ought 
to  be  a  difference  in  the  divine  dealings  toward  the  good  and 
the  evil.  But  what  if  God  treats  all  alike?  What  if  he 
makes  no  distinction  in  regard  to  character?  What  if  he 
admits  all  to  favour;  punishes  no  one,  and  rewards  piety 
and  impiety,  fraud  and  honesty,  vice  and  virtue,  reverence 
and  blasphemy,  alike  with  the  same  immortal  crown? 
What  if  the  murder  of  the  innocent,  and  the  highest  deed 
of  benevolence  were  equally  a  passport  to  his  favour  ? 
What  if  he  met  the  licentious,  and  those  of  virgin  purity 
of  soul,  when  they  came  before  him,  with  the  same  smile 
of  approbation  ?  Would  not  the  universe  feel  that  he  was 
regardless  of  character?  Would  it  be  possible  to  correct 
the  impression? 

But  it  will  be  said,  perhaps,  might  he  not  pardon  the 
guilty,  and  the  fact  of  pardon  constitute  a  ground  of  dis- 
tinction which  the  universe  would  understand?  True,  if  it 
would  be  proper  to  pardon  in  this  state  of  things.  But  are 
there  no  difficulties  attending  the  subject  of  pardon  ?  Can 
it  always  be  done  ?  Can  it  be  done  to  an  unlimited  extent  ? 
Does  a  father  feel  that  it  is  safe  and  best  to  adopt  it  as  a 
universal  rule,  that  he  will  forgive  all  his  children  as  often 
as  they  may  choose  to  offend  him,  and  to  do  it  without  any 
condition  ?  Any  one  may  easily  see  the  difficulty  on  this 
subject.  There  are  thousands  of  men  confined  in  peni- 
tentiaries ;  many  of  them  are  desperate  men,  regardless  of 
all  the  laws  of  heaven  and  earth.  Would  it  be  felt  to  be 
safe  or  proper  at  once  to  open  their  prison  doors?  Who 
would  wish  to  be  in  the  neighbourhood  when  they  should 


14  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   ]WITH   GOD? 

be  turned  impenitent  and  unreformed  upon  the  world?  If 
the  community  is  scarcely  safe  now  with  all  the  precautions 
and  guards  of  justice,  what  would  it  be  if  they  were  all 
withdrawn?  These  difficulties  must  occur  to  anyone  when 
he  asks  the  question,  How  can  the  guilty  be  justified? 

(3.)  It  is  a  matter  of  simple  fact  that  men  have  felt  this 
difficulty,  and  the  methods  to  which  they  have  resorted  to 
devise  some  way  of  justification,  show  how  perplexing  the 
subject  has  been  to  the  human  mind.  We  may  learn  some- 
thing of  the  embarrassments  which  men  feel,  by  the  devices 
to  which  they  resort  to  overcome  them.  Look  then  for  a 
moment  at  some  of  the  methods  to  which  men  have  been 
driven  in  order  to  answer  the  question  satisfactorily,  How 
can  man  be  just  with  God? 

(a)  One    class  have   denied  the    charge    of   guilt,   and 
have  endeavoured  to  convince   themselves   that  they  are 
righteous  and  that  they  may  safely  trust  to  their  own  works 
for  salvation.     If  this  could  be  done,  all  would  be  well. 
But  the  mass  of  men  have  felt  that  there  are  insuperable 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  doing  this.     We  shall  hereafter 
inquire  whether  it  is  practicable. 

(b)  Many  have  endeavoured  to  excuse  themselves  for 
their  conduct,  and  thus  to  be  justified  before  God.     They 
are  sensible  that  all  is  not  right,  but  if  they  can  find  a 
satisfactory  excuse,  that  is,  if  they  can  show  that  they  had 
a  right  to  do  what  they  have  done,  or  could  not  help  it, 
they  feel  that  they  would  not  be  condemned.     And  they 
are  right  in  this.     To  do  it  they  lay  the  blame  on  Adam,  or 
on  ungovernable  passions,  or  on  a  fallen  nature,  or  on  the 
power  of  temptation,  or  on  the  government  of  God.     They 
attempt  to  show  that  they  could  do  no  otherwise  than  they 
have  done ;  that  is,  they  have  a  right  to  do  it  in  the  circum- 
stances, and  of  course  are  not  to  blame.     We  shall  inquire 
hereafter  whether  this  position  can  be  made  out. 

(c)  Many  have  endeavoured  to  make  expiation  by  blood, 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      15 

and  have  sought  to  be  justified  in  this  way.  Hence  the 
sacrifices  of  the  heathen — the  flowing  blood  and  burning 
bodies  of  lambs,  and  goats,  and  bullocks,  and  prisoners  of 
war,  and  slaves,  and  of  children — offered  to  appease  the 
anger  of  the  gods.  Thousands  of  altars  smoke  in  this 
attempt,  and  the  whole  heathen  world  pants  and  struggles 
under  the  difficulty  of  the  inquiry,  How  may  a  guilty  con- 
science be  justified  with  God  ? 

(d)  Many  have  sought  the  same  thing  by  pilgrimages 
and  penances;  by  maceration  and  scourging;  by  unnatural 
and   painful  postures  of  the  body ;  and  by  wounds  which 
their  own  hands  have  inflicted  on  themselves.     The  victim 
of  superstition  in  India  lies  down  beneath  the  car  of  his  idol, 
or  fastens  hooks  in  his  flesh,  or  holds  his  arm  in  one  posture 
till  it  is  rigid.     Simeon  in  Syria,  on  an  elevated  column, 
spent  his  years  in  misery.     Antony  in  Egypt  went  and  lived 
in  a  cave,  and  Benedict  originated  the  monastic  system  in 
Italy.     Mecca  is  crowded  by  pilgrims  seeking  for  righteous- 
ness by  a  visit  to  the  tomb  of  the  prophet;  and  the  shrines 
inclosing  the  bones  of  the  saints  are  encompassed  by  throngs 
in  Italy  for  a  similar  purpose ;  the  garment  of  hair  frets  and 
tortures  the  body,  and  the  sound  of  the  lash  is  heard  in  the 
cells   of  the  convent,  and   the  whole   system  of  penance 
and  self-inflicted  torture  all  over  the  world  is  just  a  com- 
mentary on  the  question,  How  shall  man  be  justified  with 
God? 

(e)  To  crown  all  this,  another  device  has  been  resorted  to. 
It  has  been  held  that  there  were  extraordinary  merits  of 
saints  who  lived   in   former  times;    that  they  performed 
services  beyond  what  were  required,  that  these  merits  were 
garnered  up  as  a  sacred  treasure,   and  are  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  head  of  the  papal  community,  to  be  distributed 
at  his  pleasure  to  those  who  are  conscious  of  guilt ;  and  this 
is  one  of  the  answers  given  to  the  question,  How  shall  man 
be  justified  with  God  ? 


16      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 

From  these  remarks  it  will  be  seen  what  men  have  thought 
of  the  difficulty  of  this  question.  In  these  various  ways, 
human  nature  speaks  out  and  reveals  what  is  passing  in  the 
bosom.  They  are  the  methods  to  which  men  have  resorted 
as  the  best  answer  which  they  can  give  to  this  inquiry. 
To  see  the  real  difficulty,  however,  we  should  be  able  to  go 
down  into  the  depths  of  the  soul,  to  guage  all  the  agonies 
of  guilty  consciences;  to  look  at  the  woes  and  sorrows  which 
men  are  willing  to  endure  that  they  may  be  justified,  and 
then  to  see  how  one  and  all  of  these  plans  utterly  fail ;  how 
they  leave  the  conscience  just  as  defiled  as  it  was  before,  the 
propensities  to  evil  unchecked,  the  grave  as  terrific  as  ever, 
and  the  judgment-bar  as  full  of  horrors.  When  we  stand 
and  survey  these  things,  we  ask  with  deep  concern  whether 
any  one  of  these  is  the  way  by  which  man  can  be  justified 
with  God  ?  If  not,  is  there  any  other  way,  or  is  there  none  ? 

2.  Man  cannot  justify  himself  by  denying  or  disproving 
the  charge  of  guilt. 

The  term  justify  is  a  legal  term,  but  it  is  also  in  common 
"use,  and  is  intelligible  to  all.  An  illustration  or  two  will 
make  it  plain,  and  will  lay  the  foundation  for  the  train  of 
thought  which  will  be  pursued  in  this  section.  A  man  is 
charged  with  murder.  He  may  put  his  defence  on  one 
of  two  grounds.  He  may  either  deny  the  fact  of  killing; 
or  admitting  that,  he  may  show  that  he  had  a  right  to 
do  it,  or  is  excusable  for  it.  If  the  fact  of  killing  is  not 
made  out  against  him,  of  course  he  is  just  in  the  sight  of 
the  law,  and  is  acquitted.  Or,  if  the  fact  be  made  out  or 
admitted,  he  may  take  the  ground  either  that  he  did  it  in 
self-defence,  or  that  it  was  done  under  such  a  state  of  mental 
derangement  as  to  destroy  responsibility — and  he  is  acquitted. 
He  had  no  "malice  prepense."  He  intended  no  murder; 
he  committed  none;  and  the  law  does  not  hold  him  guilty 
of  the  charge.  A  man  is  charged  with  trespass.  He  takes 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  17 

a  similar  ground  of  defence.  He  denies  the  fact,  or  main- 
tains that  he  had  a  right  to  do  what  he  has  done.  He  sets 
up  a  claim  to  a  "right  of  way" over  a  field  which  his  neigh- 
bour owns,  and  having  established  that,  he  is  acquitted,  or 
is  held  to  have  done  no  more  than  he  had  a  right  to  do  in 
the  case.  He  is  a  just  man  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  and  may 
pursue  his  own  business,  enjoy  the  immunities  of  a  good 
citizen,  the  honours  of  an  unsullied  name,  and  protection  in 
his  rights  unmolested.  It  may  be  added  here,  that  there 
is  no  other  way  by  which  a  man  can  justify  himself  in  the 
sight  of  the  law.  He  could  not  do  it  by  admitting  the  fact 
of  the  trespass,  and  by  paying  the  fine,  or  making  compen- 
sation for  the  injury  done;  for,  though  he  might  be  discharged, 
yet  this  would  be  no  justification  of  what  was  done,  and 
would  do  nothing  toward  showing  that  he  was  right  in  doing 
it.  It  does  not  make  a  wrong  right,  either,  to  intend  before- 
hand to  pay  for  the  mischief,  or  to  make  amends  for  it  after' 
the  deed  is  done.  This  remark  will  be  used  hereafter  in 
examining  the  attempts  which  men  have  made  to  justify 
themselves. 

Now  if  man  attempt  to  justify  himself  before  his  Maker, 
he  must  take  one  of  the  grounds  referred  to.  He  must 
either  deny  the  charge  brought  against  him;  or,  admitting 
the  facts  in  the  case,  he  must  show  that  he  had  a  right  to 
do  what  he  has  done.  If  he  can  do  either  of  these,  he  will 
be  justified,  for  God  does  not  condemn  the  innocent.  We 
will  suppose  then  the  case  of  a  man  arraigned  at  the  bar  of 
his  Maker,  as  we  all  soon  shall  be,  on  trial  with  reference  to 
eternity.  There  are  two  things  that  occur  to  us  at  once. 
What  is  the  charge  against  him?  What  is  the  defence 
which  he  sets  up?  If  there  is  no  charge,  he  is  justified  of 
course.  If  his  defence  is  valid,  he  will  be  acquitted. 

It  is  necessary  then,  first  to  look  at  the  charge  which  is 
brought  against  man. 

The  charge  is,  that  he  has  violated  the  law  of  his  Maker^ 


18  HOW    SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD? 

or  is  a  transgressor.  It  is  that  of  apostacy  or  revolt  from 
God ;  the  entire  failure  to  keep  his  laws ;  living  constantly 
in  the  neglect  of  acknowledged  duty;  and  the  habitual  com- 
mission of  known  sins.  It  may  be  assumed  here  that  every 
reader  of  this  Tract  is  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  Bible  to 
know  the  nature  of  these  charges,  without  their  being  specified 
in  detail.  No  one  trained  in  a  Christian  community  can  be 
ignorant  of  the  account  of  our  race  which  the  Bible  gives. 
These  charges  of  guilt  do  not  make  the  impression  which 
they  ought,  for  these  reasons :  because  we  are  so  familiar  with 
them  ;  because  others  are  implicated  with  us ;  because  we 
do  not  cordially  believe  them.  Many  a  man  reads  the  account 
of  human  nature  in  the  Bible  without  supposing  there  is 
any  thing  serious  in  the  matter,  or  much  fitted  to  trouble 
him.  There  is  many  a  one  who  would  pass  a  sleepless  night, 
if  he  knew  there  was  a  charge  of  petty  larceny  against  him, 
which  would  bring  him  into  court  to-morrow,  who  has  no 
trouble  at  the  charge  of  total  apostacy  and  utter  revolt  brought 
against  him  by  God.  There  is  many  a  one  who  would  be  in 
the  deepest  consternation  if  he  knew  that  his  name  was'be- 
fore  a  grand  jury  in  some  such  connection  as  his  conscience 
could  easily  suggest,  who  has  no  alarm  at  the  thought  of  the 
"Grand  Assize;"  and  no  dread  of  the  formidable  catalogue 
of  crimes  drawn  up  against  him  in  the  secrecy  of  the  divine 
Councils.  A  few  remarks  will  demonstrate  that  these  charges 
against  man  in  the  Bible  ought  to  make  an  impression  and 
that  men  ought  to  be  willing  to  look  at  them.  A  case  or 
two  may  be  supposed  which  will  show  how  men  ought 
to  be  affected  in  view  of  such  charges  brought  by  the 
Creator.  The  case  of  an  officer  in  a  bank  may  be  referred 
to.  He  has  been  long  there,  or  in  other  stations  in  public 
life,  and  has  gained  a  character  compared  with  which  all  the 
gold  that  the  vaults  of  the  bank  could  contain  would  be 
worthless  as  the  sand.  Suddenly,  charges  are  brought  against 
him  of  unfaithfulness  to  his  trust.  They  come  from  quarters 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      19 

worthy  of  his  attention;  are  of  such  a  source  as  inevitably 
to  gain  the  ear  of  the  community;  are  such  that  his  family 
must  know  of  them;  are  sustained  by  such  circumstances 
of  actual  losses  in  the  bank  as  to  render  the  charge  credible, 
and  are  of  such  a  character  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  him 
to  leave  his  post,  disgraced  perhaps  forever.  Now  it  is  not 
necessary  to  suppose  that  these  accusations  are  true.  All 
that  is  designed  is  to  show  the  effect  which  charges  of  guilt 
from  a  respectable  quarter  usually  have  on  a  man's  mind. 
But  suppose  he  secretly  knew  they  were  all  true,  how  could 
his  conduct  be  explained,  if  he  was  utterly  indifferent  and 
unconcerned  ? 

In  regard  to  the  charges  which  are  brought  against  man 
a  few  remarks  may  be  made  here,  showing  that  they  should 
be  allowed  to  make  an  impression  on  the  mind. 

(1.)  One  respects  the  source  from  whence  they  come.  They 
are  professedly  the  charges  of  our  Maker  and  final  Judge. 
They  are  those  on  which  we  are  to  be  tried  at  his  bar,  and  in 
reference  to  which  our  destiny  is  to  be  determined. 

(2.)  They  are  the  most  fearful  of  all  accusations  which  can 
be  brought  against  a  creature.  No  crime  can  be  equal  to  that 
of  being  an  enemy  of  God;  and  no  offence  against  human 
society  can  equal  in  enormity  and  ill  desert,  the  crimes  of 
which  man  is  charged  against  his  Maker. 

(3.)  The  charge  extends  to  every  human  being.  No  excep- 
tion is  made  in  favour  of  youth,  beauty,  rank,  or  blood ;  none 
in  favour  of  the  amiable,  the  honest,  or  the  moral ;  none  in  fa- 
vour of  those  who  have  endeavoured  to  wipe  away  the  accusa- 
tion by  their  own  good  living.  It  is  not  indeed  charged  that 
one  is  as  bad  as  another,  or  that  any  one  is  as  bad  as  he  can  be, 
but  it  is  that  every  one  is  guilty  of  violating  the  law  of  God, 
and  is  held  to  be  such  a  sinner  that  he  cannot  save  himself. 

(4.)  It  is  charged  that  each  and  every  one  is  of  such  a  cha- 
racter that  the  eternal  pains  of  hell  would  be  an  adequate  re- 
compense for  his  crime.  He  is  held  to  be  under  condemnation 


20  HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  T^ITH  GOD  ? 

and  to  be  justly  exposed  to  punishment  that  shall  be  severe  in 
the  extremes!  degree,  unmitigated  and  everlasting.  Each  one 
is  held  to  be  such  an  evil-doer  that  it  would  be  wrong  for 
God  to  admit  him  to  heaven  as  he  is,  but  not  wrong  to  con- 
sign him  to  unending  wo.  It  is  important  not  to  disguise 
any  thing  about  this,  or  to  seek  to  hide  it  by  soft  names. 
The  robber  is  deemed  worthy  of  the  penitentiary ;  the  mur- 
derer is  regarded  as  deserving  death  on  the  gibbet ;  and  in 
like  manner  it  is  held  in  the  charges  brought  against  man, 
and  the  threatenings  appended  to  them,  that  every  man  de- 
serves the  pains  of  everlasting  death,  and  that  if  he  should 
receive  what  is  properly  due  to  him,  he  would  be  cast  off 
from  God,  and  punished  forever.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the 
charges  against  man.  On  these  he  is  held  guilty ;  on  these 
he  will  be  arraigned.  The  Bible  has  two  aspects.  It  reveals 
a  way  of  pardon ;  but  it  is  also  the  grand  instrument  of  in- 
dictment against  man.  It  is  designed  to  reveal  his  character ; 
to  record  his  crimes;  to  overwhelm  him  with  the  conviction 
of  guilt;  and  be  the  rule  of  judgment  on  the  final  day.  The 
question  then  arises,  now  to  be  considered,  whether  if  these 
are  the  charges  against  man,  he  can  vindicate  or  justify  him- 
self. It  has  been  already  remarked  that  there  are  but  two 
grounds  to  be  taken  in  such  a  vindication.  One  is,  to  deny 
the  facts  charged  on  man;  the  other  is,  if  the  facts  be  ad- 
mitted, for  him  to  show  that  he  had  a  right  to  do  as  he  has 
done.  There  is  nothing  else  that  can  be  conceived  of  in 
the  case,  to  be  done  by  him,  unless  it  were  to  attempt  to  make 
expiation  or  reparation  by  extraordinary  merit;  by  penance 
or  by  sacrifice;  though  this  would  not  justify  him  for  what 
he  had  done,  any  more  than  a  man's  paying  a  fine  made  it 
right  for  him  to  put  out  his  neighbour's  eye,  or  burn  his 
house.  If  neither  of  these  things  can  be  done,  it  will  follow 
that  man  cannot  be  justified  by  his  own  righteousness.  These 
points  will  now  be  considered  in  their  order.  The  first  is 
that  man  cannot  deny  the  truth  of  the  charges  brought  against 


HOW   SHALL    MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  21 

him.  In  support  of  this  the  following  considerations  may 
be  urged  : — 

(1.)  The  source  whence  these  charges  come.  They  are 
made  by  God  himself.  It  is  assumed  here  that  the  Bible  is 
true,  and  the  argument  will  be  conducted  on  that  assumption. 
In  another  part  of  this  Tract  it  will  be  shown  that  it  is  equally 
impossible  to  deny  the  main  facts,  whether  the  Bible  be  true 
or  false.  The  position  now  is  that  the  sinner  cannot  take 
the  ground  that  God  has  mistaken  the  facts  about  man,  or 
that  he  has  designedly  brought  a  false  accusation.  It  surely 
cannot  be  necessary  to  go  into  an  argument  to  prove  this, 
but  an  illustration  or  two  may  be  allowed. 

(a)  One  is  that  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  mistake  on  this 
subject.  Men  often  do  mistake  in  reference  to  character 
and  conduct.  Charges  are  often  falsely  brought  and  men 
are  often  condemned  as  guilty,  on  false  accusations.  This 
may  be  intentionally  done;  or  judges  and  jurors  may  be 
mistaken;  or  witnesses  may  be  suborned  to  sustain  the  ac- 
cusation, or  those  needful  for  the  defence  may  be  absent,  or 
a  combination  of  circumstances  which  no  human  sagacity 
can  control  may  seem  to  confirm  the  charge  of  guilt  against 
the  innocent.  But  obviously  no  such  mistake  can  occur  in 
relation  to  the  charges  brought  in  the  Bible  against  man,  nor 
can  man  set  up  a  vindication  of  himself  on  the  ground  that 
his  Maker  has  erred  in  reference  to  the  facts  alleged. 

(5)  As  little  can  he  urge  that  the  accusation  has  been 
overdrawn ;  that  a  degree  of  guilt  has  been  charged  such  as 
the  facts  would  not  justify ;  or  that  there  has  been  an  inter- 
mingling of  prejudice  or  passion  that  has  given  a  colouring  to 
the  charge,  and  that  a  calmer  view  may  modify  these  accusa- 
tions. We  can  easily  admit  that  such  things  may  occur 
among  men.  Judges  and  jurors  are  liable  to  the  same  pas- 
sions as  other  men,  and  in  a  time  of  popular  excitement  it 
may  happen  that  the  contagion  may  reach  the  bench  and  the 
jury-room,  and  hence  the  laws  are  careful  that  the  adminis- 


22  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE  JUST   VfrTU.   GOD? 

tration  of  justice  shall  proceed  with  as  much  calmness  and 
coolness  as  possible.  It  may  happen  also  that  false  charges 
are  brought  against  men  because  they  are  obnoxious  to  those 
in  power.  Many  a  one  who  has  stood  in  the  way  of  the  pur- 
poses of  a  tyrant,  has  been  removed  under  the  form  of  law 
to  gratify  the  passions  of  such  a  man,  and  many  a  pure  name 
has  been  covered  with  infamy  by  the  malignity  of  those  in 
authority.  But  it  is  not  needful  to  show  that  none  of  these 
things  can  be  alleged  by  man  in  regard  to  the  charges 
brought  against  him  by  his  Maker.  It  cannot  be  pretended 
that  God  has  been  hurried  into  these  charges  under  the  in- 
fluence of  passion,  or  that  man  is  obnoxious  to  his  purposes 
and  that  he  would  have  him  removed.  The  charges  are 
made  with  the  utmost  deliberation.  They  are  made  by  the 
most  benevolent  Being  in  the  universe ;  by  one  who  can  have 
no  pleasure  in  finding  out  proofs  of  guilt ;  by  one  who,  from 
his  nature,  is  disposed  to  make  every  possible  allowance  for 
weakness  and  infirmity;  by  one  who  sees  better  than  man 
can  state  it,  every  thing  that  can  be  said  in  his  defence  \ 
by  one  more  disposed  than  any  human  being  ever  was  to  do 
justice  to  all  that  is  amiable  and  pure.  If  man  wishes  to 
find  a  friend  who  will  be  kind  to  his  infirmities,  and  do 
justice  to  him  when  the  world  does  him  wrong,  he  can  find 
no  such  friend  as  God. 

(c)  It  may  be  added  here  that  the  charge  is  one  that  no 
denial  affects.  It  has  been  deliberately  made,  and  is  that 
on  which  we  are  to  be  tried.  We  may  deny  it,  or  disregard 
it,  but  it  is  not  affected.  Whatever  we  may  choose  to  think 
of  it,  it  does  not  change  the  estimate  which  our  Maker  affixes 
to  our  character  any  more  than  the  private  views  of  a  prisoner 
at  the  bar  modify  the  estimate  of  the  judge  and  jury.  God 
will  pronounce  sentence  on  us  according  to  his  own  estimate 
of  our  character,  and  the  only  security  which  we  can  have 
that  we  shall  not  meet  with  condemnation, will  be  in  the  fact 
that  our  character  will  be  such  that  he  will  regard  it  as  not 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      23 

proper  to  condemn  us.  But  that  cannot  be  by  attempting 
to  deny  the  truth  of  the  charge  which  he  brings  against  us, 
or  by  holding  him  either  to  be  malignant  or  mistaken. 

(2.)  To  show  that  man  cannot  deny  the  truth  of  that 
which  is  alleged  against  him  as  a  violator  of  the  law,  it  may  be 
observed,  secondly,  that  so  far  from  obeying  the  perfect  law 
of  God,  he  has  failed  of  yielding  perfect  obedience  to  the 
very  lowest  rules  of  morality.  The  standard  at  which  man 
aims  is  in  general  low  enough,  and  one  which  it  might  be 
supposed  was  sufficiently  accommodating  to  satisfy  one  who 
wished  to  save  himself  by  his  own  righteousness.  That 
standard  is,  at  any  rate,  at  an  immeasurable  distance  from  the 
holy  law  of  Grod.  Yet  let  a  man  take  any  standard  of  con- 
duct which  he  pleased,  and  he  would  fail  in  all  attempts  to 
show  that  he  had  always  been  conformed  to  it.  Who  would 
undertake  to  prove,  before  any  tribunal  that  could  take  any 
cognizance  of  the  motives,  the  thoughts,  the  words  as  well 
as  the  outward  conduct,  that  he  had  always  been  honest,  true, 
kind,  chaste,  or  courteous  ?  Who  would  attempt  to  prove, 
that  he  had  on  no  occasion  failed  in  his  duty  in  the 
tenderest  relations  of  life  ?  What  child  is  there  that 
would  undertake  to  prove,  that  he  has  never  failed  in 
his  duty  to  his  father  or  his  mother;  that  he  has  always 
been  as  respectful,  obedient  and  grateful  as  he  ought  to 
have  been  ?  Is  there  no  compunction  when  he  sees  a  fa- 
ther die  ?  Is  there  nothing  which  he  would  wish  to  re- 
call when  he  stands  by  a  mother's  grave  ?  What  brother 
would  undertake  to  vindicate  all  his  conduct  toward  a  sister? 
or  what  friend  is  there  that  has  never  had  a  feeling  toward 
his  friend  which  he  ought  not  to  have  ?  Who  is  there  that 
would  undertake  to  say  that  he  has  never  failed  in  the  duty 
of  perfect  honesty  and  truth  in  the  transactions  of  busi- 
ness ?  Nay,  to  come  down  to  a  lower  standard,  who,  pro- 
fessing to  be  governed  by  the  laws  of  honour,  would  ven- 
ture, when  he  comes  to  die,  to  stake  his  eternal  welfare  on 


24  HOW    SHALL    MAN   BE   JUST   \fITH   GOD? 

the  fact  that  he  has  never  failed  of  perfect  conformity  to 
that  arbitrary  code?  Who  that  professes  to  be  governed 
by  the  rules  of  etiquette  would  attempt  to  maintain  that 
those  laws  have  always  been  perfectly  observed?  Let  a 
man  choose  his  own  standard  of  action;  let  him  refer  to 
any  code  by  which  he  professes  to  regulate  his  conduct — 
would  he  be  willing  that  every  thought,  and  word,  and  feel- 
ing and  action  of  his  life  should  be  brought  out  to  noonday, 
and  that  his  eternal  welfare  should  be  determined  by  the 
issue  of  the  question  whether  he  had  or  had  not  been  per- 
fectly conformed  to  that  code  ?  If  not,  how  shall  he  vin- 
dicate himself  from  the  charge  of  sin  ?  And  if  he  cannot 
vindicate  himself  in  reference  to  these  low  and  imperfect 
standards,  how  shall  he  stand  acquitted  of  the  charge  of  a 
violation  of  the  high  and  holy  law  of  God — that  he  has 
never  made  a  standard  or  rule  of  life — that  he  has  never 
attempted  to  obey  ?  The  love  to  his  Maker  which  that  re- 
quires he  has  never  once  attempted  to  exercise.  The  holy 
duties  which  that  enjoins  he  has  never  endeavoured  to  per- 
form; its  sacred  injunctions  he  has  never  thought  of  bear- 
ing with  him  to  the  relations  of  life,  to  the  counting-room, 
to  the  circles  of  his  friendship,  or  to  the  scenes  of  his 
amusement.  How,  then,  will  he  proceed  in  attempting  to 
show  that  the  charges  of  guilt  brought  against  him  are  not 
true? 

(3.)  The  charges  which  are  brought  against  man  by  his 
Maker  are  sustained  by  all  the  facts  of  history.  What 
ground  would  that  man  take  who  should  attempt  to  show 
that  the  accusations  in  the  Bible  against  the  race — that  it 
is  sinful  and  prone  to  evil — are  unfounded  and  false  ?  On 
what  would  he  base  his  argument  ?  To  what  part  of  the 
world — to  what  historic  monument — to  what  recorded  opi- 
nions would  he  turn  ?  Men  often  feel  that  the  account  in 
the  Bible  of  the  character  of  man — of  the  human  heart — 
of  the  tendency  of  our  nature— is  harsh  and  gloomy.  They 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      25 

are  inclined  to  think  better  of  the  race,  and  to  suppose  that 
the  views  in  the  Bible  must  have  been  derived  from  the 
observation  of  man  in  a  peculiarly  dark  age  of  the  world,  or 
were  the  result  of  feelings  bordering  on  misanthropy.  They 
think  that  man  is  better  than  he  is  there  represented,  or  at 
least  that,  by  certain  modifications  in  society,  he  reaches  a 
state  where  that  description  does  not  apply  to  him.  On 
this  account  it  is  felt  that  the  charge  is  one  that  cannot  be 
sustained,  and  that  it  is  not  true  now  that  all  hope  of  salva- 
tion, on  the  ground  of  an  upright  life,  is  cut  off.  But  let  a 
few  indisputable  facts  be  submitted  to  candid  men. 

(a)  One  is,  that  the  historic  account  of  human  conduct 
in  the  Bible  is  no  worse  than  in  other  records.  The  narra- 
tion of  crimes,  of  wars,  of  ambition,  of  carnage,  of  blood, 
of  sensuality,  of  venality,  of  political  profligacy  or  corrup- 
tion of  manners  there,  is  no  worse  than  is  to  be  found  in 
Livy  or  Suetonius ;  in  Gibbon  or  Hume.  Every  crime 
recorded  in  the  sacred  narrative  has  more  than  one  parallel 
in  the  records  of  profane  history,  and  every  sentiment  there 
expressed  about  man  can  be  confirmed  by  any  number  of 
testimonies  that  the  most  sceptical  could  demand.  The 
world  has  been  many  a  time  in  a  state  like  that  described 
by  Moses  as  the  cause  of  the  deluge ;  and  the  earth  now 
bears  up  many  a  city,  where  all  the  crimes  on  account  of 
which  Sodom  was  overthrown  still  have  an  existence.  Her- 
culaneum  and  Pompeii  have  been  revealed,  by  the  monu- 
ments exposed  to  human  view  from  beneath  the  ashes  that 
covered  them,  to  have  been  as  corrupt,  and  corrupt  in  the 
same  sense,  as  the  cities  of  the  plain ;  and  a  single  one  of 
the  capitals  of  Europe  embosoms  probably  now  more  revolt- 
ing sins  than  they  all.  There  is  not  an  instance  of  fraud, 
corruption,  or  villany,  attributed  to  man  in  the  Bible,  which 
has  not  its  parallel  in  the  present  age  of  the  world.  The 
instances  of  depravity,  whose  deeds  are  recorded  in  the 
Bible,  find  abundant  parallels  in  profane  history,  and  not 

3 


26      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  yiTH  GOD? 

one  of  the  names  of  guilt  there  referred  to  surpasses  in 
wickedness  those  of  Nero,  or  Tiberius;  of  Alexander  VI. 
or  his  wretched  son ;  of  Henry  VIII.  or  Charles  II.  ]  or  of 
the  leaders  of  the  French  Revolution. 

(6)  The  account  contained  in  the  Bible,  of  human  depra- 
vity, is  sustained  by  the  opinion  of  the  sober  and  reflecting 
in  all  ages.  Those  who  have  given  themselves  to  the  con- 
templation of  the  condition  of  the  world,  have  seen  it,  (the 
sad  tendency  to  depravity  in  human  nature,)  lamented  it, 
and  sought  to  correct  it;  and  yel  the  current  of  iniquity 
has  swept  over  every  barrier  which  man  could  erect  against 
it,  and  sweeps  on  unchecked  from  age  to  age. 

(c)  The  same  view  of  the  human  character  has  been 
taken  by  wicked  men  themselves.  Byron  had  no  confidence 
in  human  virtue ;  Walpole  said  that  every  man  had  his 
price ;  Chesterfield  regarded  all  virtue  as  false  and  hollow ; 
Robespierre  and  Danton  acted  under  the  belief  that  every 
man  deserved  the  guillotine.  And 

(e7)  Every  man  acts  on  the  presumption  that  every 
other  man  is  a  sinner,  and  that  no  confidence  can  be  placed 
in  him  without  securities,  and  expects  that  every  other  one 
will  regard  him  in  the  same  light.  This  security  is  not  in 
human  virtue,  but  in  vaults,  and  bars,  and  locks  and  bonds, 
and  he  himself  expects  to  be  treated  by  every  other  man 
as  if  he  had  the  same  character.  His  head  neither  hangs 
down  with  shame,  nor  do  his  eyes  flash  with  indignation 
when  he  is  asked  for  security  that  he  will  pay  an  honest 
debt,  or  when  he  is  told  in  a  bank,  or  on  exchange,  that  no 
individual  or  corporation  will  trust  him,  without  having  some 
other  security  besides  himself  that  he  is  a  safe  and  honest 
man.  In  these  circumstances,  how  can  man  go  before  God 
and  attempt  to  justify  himself  on  the  ground  that  the 
charges  against  him  are  not  true  ?  Can  he  take  the  ground 
that  his  Maker  is  mistaken,  Nor  that  he  has  maliciously 
brought  a  false  accusation  ? 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  27 

(4)  There  is  but  one  other  observation  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  make  on  this  part  of  the  subject.  It  is  that  con- 
science sustains  the  truth  of  all  the  charges  which  are 
brought.  Man  exhibits  this  very  strange  and  remarkable 
characteristic,  that  he  often  frames  an  argument  to  show 
that  the  race  is  not  as  guilty  as  is  alleged,  and,  perhaps, 
succeeds  in  convincing  others ;  but  still  his  argument  does 
nothing  to  affect  the  proof  as  it  lies  in  his  own  soul. 
There  is  that  within  himself  which  is  to  him  overpower- 
ing demonstration  that  his  arguments  are  all  false,  and 
that  the  charges  against  him  are  true.  God  has  so  formed 
the  soul  that  he  has  there  at  all  times  what  may  be  sum- 
moned forth  at  his  pleasure,  as  a  living  witness  that  all 
that  he  has  charged  on  man  is  true,  and  that  shall  render 
nugatory  in  a  moment  all  the  reasonings  of  men  about  the 
uprightness  of  their  own  hearts.  This  proof  is  found  in  a 
man's  own  conscience.  This  is  a  device  by  which  man 
himself  is  made  to  coincide  with  and  confirm  the  views  of 
the  Almighty — to  approve  where  He  approves — to  condemn 
where  He  condemns.  It  stands  apart  from  the  deductions 
of  reason  ;  is  little  affected  by  the  arguments  which  men 
may  employ;  is  susceptible  of  being  called  up  to  give  judg- 
ment at  any  time ;  often  pronounces  sentence  against  the 
favourite  opinions  of  the  man  himself;  uniformly  declares 
judgment  in  favour  of  right,  and  condemns  what  is  wrong, 
and  is  always  on  the  side  of  God  and  his  claims.  This  mys- 
terious and  wonderful  power  is  wholly  under  the  divine  con- 
trol. No  matter  what  may  be  the  cherished  opinions  of 
man ;  no  matter  how  he  may  call  in  question  the  correct- 
ness of  the  divine  testimony  against  human  conduct,  and 
no  matter  how  reluctant  he  may  be  to  admit  the  impossi- 
bility of  being  saved  by  his  own  works ;  yet  God  has  power, 
at  any  moment,  to  summon  the  mind  itself  to  sustain  His 
own  account  of  the  state  of  the  heart,  and  to  put  it  into 
such  a  condition  as  to  leave  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  that  all 


28  HOW    SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   JVITH   GOD? 

that  He  has  said  respecting  its  depravity  is  true.  It  re- 
quires all  the  art  of  a  sinner  to  keep  the  voice  of  conscience 
silent,  and  to  save  himself  from  its  rebukes.  Well  he 
knows  that,  if  suffered  to  speak  out,  it  will  be  in  tones  of 
deep  condemnation.  It  often  does  speak  out.  In  solitude; 
in  the  silence  of  the  night;  under  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  when  the  mind  in  its  lonely  musings  runs  back  by 
some  mysterious  law  of  association  to  the  past;  in  a  revival 
of  religion;  on  a  bed  of  sickness;  or  in  the  prospect  of 
death,  conscience  often  utters  its  voice  in  tones  that  are  so 
distinct  that  they  can  neither  be  misunderstood  nor  sup- 
pressed. These  are  circumstances  when  man  is  most  likely 
to  judge  according  to  truth,  and  in  such  circumstances  he 
is  so  made  as  to  feel,  without  a  doubt,  that  the  judgment 
pronounced  by  conscience  is  in  accordance  with  that  of  the 
Most  High,  and  that  the  views  pressed  upon  his  conscience 
then,  about  his  own  character,  are  those  which  will  be  con- 
firmed by  the  sentence  of  the  final  Judge.  "  In  thoughts 
from  the  visions  of  the  night/'  said  an  ancient  sage,  "  when 
deep  sleep  falleth  on  man,  fear  came  upon  me,  and  trem- 
bling, which  made  all  my  bones  to  shake.  Then  a  spirit 
passed  before  my  face ;  the  hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up  :  It 
stood  still,  but  I  could  not  discern  the  form  thereof:  an  image 
was  before  mine  eyes;  there  was  silence,  and  I  heard  a  voice, 
saying,  Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God  ?  shall  a 
man  be  more  pure  than  his  Maker?  Behold,  he  put  no 
trust  in  his  servants,  and  his  angels  he  charged  with  folly : 
How  much  less  in  them  that  dwell  in  houses  of  clay,  whose 
foundation  is  in  the  dust,  who  are  crushed  before  the 
moth!"  Jobiv.  13—19. 

The  point  that  has  been  now  considered  is,  that  man  can- 
not justify  himself  before  God  by  taking  the  ground  that 
the  facts  are  not  as  charged  upon  him,  or  that  he  has  not 
in  fact  violated  the  law  of  God.  This  has  been  shown  by 
these  considerations :  that  it  ia  impossible  to  believe  that 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      29 

God  would  bring  a  false  charge  against  man ;  that,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  man  fails  of  perfect  conformity  to  the  very 
lowest  standard  of  morals ;  that  the  account  in  the  Bible 
of  the  human  character  is  confirmed  by  all  the  records  else- 
where existing  of  the  character  of  man ;  and  that,  when 
man  has  denied  the  charge  against  him,  conscience  comes 
in  to  confirm  the  accusations  and  the  decisions  of  the 
Almighty. 

III.  Man  cannot  justify  himself  by  showing  tlmt  his  con- 
duct is  right. 

In  the  previous  section,  it  has  been  shown  that  man  can- 
not justify  himself  before  God  by  denying  the  truth  of  the 
charges  brought  against  him.  In  other  words,  he  cannot 
take  the  position  that  the  facts,  in  regard  to  his  character 
and  conduct,  are  not  such  as  they  are  stated  to  be,  or  that 
his  conduct  has  been,  in  all  respects  and  all  times,  perfectly 
conformable  to  the  law  of  God.  He  cannot  take  the  ground 
which  could  be  taken  with  propriety  by  sinless  angels,  that, 
as  they  have  never  departed  in  fact  or  in  form  from  the 
strict  requirements  of  a  holy  law,  therefore  they  can  claim 
it  as  a  right  to  be  treated  as  holy  beings.  Man  cannot  take 
the  position  before  his  Maker  which  a  good  citizen  can  be- 
fore his  country,  that  he  has  violated  none  of  its  laws,  and 
therefore  is  entitled  to  its  favour  and  protection. 

The  only  other  ground  of  defence,  or  of  justification, 
which  man  can  set  up,  is,  that  it  was  right  or  proper  for 
him  to  do  as  he  has  done :  that,  admitting  the  facts  in  the 
case  to  be  as  they  are  charged ;  that  he  does  not  love  his 
Maker  with  a  perfect  heart ;  that  he  violates  his  laws  ;  that 
he  is  under  the  influence  of  unholy  passions,  and  that  he 
neglects  many  things  which  are  required  of  him,  yet  that 
such  are  the  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed,  that  it  is 
not  wrong  for  him  to  do  as  he  has  done,  or  that  he  has 

a  valid  excuse,  and  ought  not  to  be  condemned.     His  condi- 

3* 


30  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   \JTITH   GOD? 

tion,  he  might  be  ready  to  admit,  is  one  that  is  to  be  pitied ; 
but  his  conduct  is  not  such  as  to  deserve  blame  or  punish- 
ment. If  a  man  can  make  this  out,  he  will  not  be  con- 
demned ;  for  God  will  not  condemn  the  innocent.  If  man 
has  a  good  and  sufficient  excuse  for  what  he  has  done,  there 
is  no  being  in  the  universe  who  will  look  more  benignantly 
on  it  than  the  Almighty;  for. there  is  no  one  so  ready  to 
do  justice  to  the  innocent,  or  to  allow  its  proper  weight 
to  all  that  ought  to  exculpate.  It  is  necessary,  therefore, 
to  examine  this  ground  of  defence,  or  to  inquire  whether 
man  can  set  up  the  plea  that  he  has  a  right  to  do  as  he 
has  done — to  live  as  he  is  in  fact  living. 

Man  is  soon  to  stand  before  his  Maker  on  a  high  charge 
of  guilt.  If  he  cannot  deny  the  facts  charged  on  him,  he 
must  take  the  ground  that  he  has  a  right  to  do  as  he  has 
done  ;  that  he  has  a  valid  reason  which  excuses  him ;  that 
he  ought  to  be  acquitted,  and  that  his  deliverance  should 
be  hailed  everywhere  with  songs  and  rejoicing,  and  that  he 
ought  to  be  received  to  heaven  in  triumph.  What  is  this 
ground  of  defence  ?  What  is  its  value  ?  Will  it  avail  on 
the  final  trial  ? 

Here  it  may  be  observed  that  man  will  not  set  up  the 
plea  of  insanity,  though  more  insane  on  the  subject  charged 
on  him  than  many  who  have  been  acquitted  on  that  ground 
by  human  tribunals.  Man  has  too  much  pride  and  too  much 
confidence  that  he  is  right,  and  that  God  is  wrong,  to  urge 
this  plea.  Nor  would  he  maintain  that  God  has  no  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  case ;  for  nothing  is  plainer  than  that  he  owes 
allegiance  to  the  laws  of  his  Maker,  and  that  he  cannot  go 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  empire.  The  points  on  which  the 
accused  sinner  must  rely,  if  he  would  undertake  to  show  that 
he  is  not  to  blame  for  what  he  has  done,  and  to  justify  him- 
self, must  be  such  as  the  following : — Either  that  the  consti- 
tution of  things  under  which  he  is  placed,  is  such  as  to  make 
it  inevitable  that  he  should  do  as  he  does ;  or  that  he  is  but 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  81 

acting  out  the  nature  which  God  has  given  him,  and  that 
therefore  it  must  be  right ;  or  that  the  law  of  God  is  'un- 
reasonably severe  and  stern,  and  he  is  excusable  for  not 
obeying  it;  or  that  the  time  of  preparation  for  eternity  is 
too  short,  and  that  too  great  interests  are  made  to  depend 
on  this  brief  period  of  existence ;  or  that  the  penalty  is  too 
severe,  and  that  if  a  man  acts  as  well  as  he  knows  how, 
though  he  does  not  conform  to  the  holy  law  of  God,  he 
ought  not  to  be  recompensed  with  eternal  torments.  If 
these  points  can  be  made  out,  man  ought  to  be  acquitted. 
If  they  cannot,  has  he  any  other  ground  of  defence  on 
which  he  can  rely  ? 

1.  The  first  of  these  grounds  of  defence  is  derived  from 
the  constitution  of  things  under  which  we  are  placed.  Our 
minds,  when  we  set  up  this  defence,  go  back  to  the  arrange- 
ment with  Adam,  and  the  effect  of  his  sin  on  his  posterity. 
The  form  of  this  defence  is,  that  his  fall,  by  the  divine  arrange- 
ment, placed  us  in  far  more  unfavourable  circumstances  for 
salvation  than  we  would  otherwise  have  been;  that  his 
apostacy  made  it  certain  that  all  his  descendants  would  sin ; 
that  it  made  it  certain  that  the  first  act  of  each  moral  agent 
on  earth  would  be  wrong ;  that  there  was  a  strong  proba- 
bility thus  created  that  all  his  posterity  would  be  lost,  and  that 
all  our  strong  propensities  to  evil,  and  our  exposure  to  ruin, 
are  to  be  traced  to  this  arrangement.  If  they  who  rely  on 
this  ground  of  defence  were  disposed  to  take  shelter  under 
the  declarations  of  Scripture,  the  defence  would  be  found 
in  the  following  statements  of  the  apostle  Paul :  "  Through 
the  offence  of  one,  many  are  dead."  "The  judgment  was 
by  one  to  condemnation."  "  By  one  man's  offence,  death 
reigned  by  one."  "By  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came 
upon  all  men  to  condemnation."  "  By  one  man's  disobe- 
dience, many  were  made  sinners."  The  law  entered  that 
the  offence  might  abound."  Rom.  v.  If  these  things  are 


32      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WlTH  GOD? 

so,  how  can  man  be  held  to  be  guilty  for  conduct  thus  ren- 
dered certain  and  inevitable  ? 

The  question  now  is,  whether  this  can  be  regarded  as  a 
vindication  of  the  undisputed  facts  in  the  conduct  of  man. 
Will  it  be  admitted  as  a  sufficient  reason  for  what  we  have 
done  in  violation  of  the  holy  law  of  God,  when  we  stand  at  his 
bar  ?  The  fact  is  undeniable  that  man  thus  early  goes  astray, 
and  that  he  continues  to  wander  farther  and  farther,  unless 
he  is  restrained  or  reclaimed.  Is  it  a  sufficient  excuse  for 
this  that  Adam  fell,  and  that  we  live  under  such  a  consti- 
tution that  his  sinning  made  it  certain  that  we  would  sin 
also? 

Now,  in  examining  this  question,  we  may  admit  two 
things.  One  is,  that  our  circumstances,  in  consequence  of 
his  fall,  are  in  many  respects  less  favourable  than  they 
would  otherwise  have  been ;  or  that  incalculable  evils  have 
cdme  upon  us  in  consequence  of  his  apostacy ;  and  the 
other  is,  that  there  is  much  about  it  which  neither  Revelation 
nor  human  philosophy  explains.  But  these  are  different 
points  from  the  one  before  us,  whether  that  act  of  our  first 
father  is  a  sufficient  excuse  or  apology  for  our  crimes  j  or 
whether  we  can  take  shelter  under  that  constitution  as  a 
vindication  from  the  charge  of  guilt.  In  reply  to  this,  two 
or  three  remarks  may  be  made. 

The  first  is,  that  we  are  responsible  not  for  his  sin,  but 
for  our  own.  The  sin  which  is  charged  upon  us  is  not  his, 
but  ours.  The  question  is,  not  whether  his  acting  as  he 
did  will  free  us  from  accountability,  or  ill-desert,  on  account 
of  his  act,  which  is  plain  enough  ;  but  whether  it  will  free 
us  from  ill-desert,  on  account  of  our  own  sins.  We  could  not 
be  held  guilty,  i.  e.  blameworthy,  for  his  sin ;  and  if  this 
were  the  charge,  the  defence  set  up  must  be  conclusive. 
No  reasoning  has  yet  shown  that  man  either  is  or  can  be 
regarded  as  blameworthy  on  account  of  the  crime  of  his 
first  father. 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  33 

Again,  the  fall  of  Adam,  and  the  constitution  under 
which  we  live,  compel  no  one  to  sin.  Whatever  may  be 
their  theories  about  native  depravity,  yet  clear  thinkers  uni- 
versally hold  that  all  which  is  properly  sin,  is  voluntary, 
and  there  is  nothing  in  which  man  more  consults  his 
own  pleasure  than  in  the  course  of  life  which  he  pursues. 
Every  profane  man  means  to  be  profane;  every  dis- 
honest man  prefers  to  be  dishonest ;  every  sensual  man  has 
pleasure  in  moral  corruption.  It  is  a  great  law  of  our 
being,  that  where  freedom  ends,  responsibility  ends,  and 
there  is  nothing  more  universally  true  than  that  a  wicked 
man  does  only  what  he  prefers  to  do.  Nay,  the  sins  which 
are  charged  on  him  are  very  often  the  fruit  of  long  and 
deliberate  plan;  and  so  attached  is  he  to  a  course  of  iniquity, 
that  no  argument  or  entreaty  is  sufficient  to  induce  him  to 
attempt  to  change  his  method  of  life.  So  voluntary  are  men 
in  their  sins,  that  there  is  no  argument  or  topic  of  persua- 
sion which  will  induce  those  living  in  sin,  of  themselves  to 
break  off  their  transgressions  and  turn  to  God.  A  man  must 
take  the  ground  that  he  is  compelled  by  the  act  of  Adam 
to  do  what  he  would  otherwise  not  do,  before  the  apostacy 
of  our  first  father  can  be  a  vindication  from  the  charges  al- 
leged against  him.  Further,  this  plea  would  neither  be  urged 
nor  admitted  by  man  himself  in  any  other  case.  In  all  the 
numerous  charges  brought  against  men  before  human  tribu- 
nals in  different  lands  and  ages,  it  is  probable  that  this  has 
never  once  been  alleged  as  a  vindication.  To  no  murderer, 
thief,  pirate,  or  traitor,  has  it  ever  occurred  to  urge  this  in 
his  own  defence.  The  state  of  the  world  has  never  been 
such  that  it  would  be  tolerated  for  a  moment ;  nor  has  the 
consideration  that  Adam  fell,  and  that  we  are  under  a  con- 
stitution where  all  men  sin,  ever,  probably,  in  a  single  instance, 
even  modified  the  verdict  of  a  jury.  There  have  been  men 
on  the  bench  and  in  the  jury-box  who  have  held  this  as  a 
theological  dogma,  or  as  an  excuse  for  their  own  sins  before 


34      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  yiTH  GOD? 

God ;  but  in  a  court-room  nature  speaks  out,  and  no  man 
\vould  venture  to  apply  such  a  dogma  of  theology  to  a  deci- 
sion of  the  bench.  What  would  it  avail  on  a  charge  of 
murder  before  any  court  in  the  world  ? 

One  other  remark  :  It  remains  yet  to  be  shown  that  the 
facilities  for  obtaining  the  divine  favour,  by  men  in  their 
fallen  state,  are  less  than  they  would  have  been  had  they 
entered  the  world  in  the  condition  of  their  first  parents. 
Are  any  sent  to  hell  for  Adam's  sin  alone  ?  That  remains  yet 
to  be  proved.  Are  any  infants  lost  ?  Not  a  particle  of  evi- 
dence has  ever  yet  been  furnished  of  this.  Is  it  beyond 
the  capacity  of  children  to  please  God  ?  Let  the  remarks 
of  .the  Saviour  about  the  hosannahs  in  the  temple  answer. 
Is  it  less  easy  for  us  to  obtain  the  divine  approbation  and 
to  be  saved,  than  it  would  have  been  if  Adam  had  not 
fallen  ?  That  remains  to  be  proved.  If  a  choice  were  to 
be  made,  it  would  seem  to  be  easier  for  a  fallen  being  to 
believe  on  Christ  and  to  trust  to  him  for  salvation,  than  for 
even  a  holy  being,  who  was  liable  to  change,  to  keep  a  holy 
law  unbroken  forever.  And,  in  fact,  both  our  first  parents, 
who  were  holy,  and  a  portion  of  the  holy  angels,  failed  to 
retain  their  uprightness,  while  God  vouchsafes  his  power- 
ful grace  to  enable  us  to  believe.  If  these  things  are  so, 
then  man  cannot  put  his  defence  on  the  ground  that  he  is 
brought  into  the  world  under  a  constitution  which  made  it 
certain  that  he  would  be  a  sinner. 

11.  A  second  ground  of  defence  to  which  man  resorts  in 
self-vindication,  akin  to  this,  but  more  common  and  plausi- 
ble, is,  that  he  is  but  acting  out  the  propensities  of  his  na- 
ture. He  did  not  make  himself.  He  is  as  God  made  him. 
He  is  but  indulging  inclinations  which  his  Creator  has  im- 
planted in  his  bosom,  and  the  indulgence  of  which,  there- 
fore, cannot  be  attended  with  blame,  or  followed  by  His  dis- 
pleasure. Can  it  be  wrong  for  him  to  look  upon  the  light 
of  the  sun  ?  Can  it  be  wrong  for  him  to  be  charmed  with 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  35 

the  beauty  of  a  sweet  landscape,  or  the  pleasant  music  of  a 
waterfall  ?  Can  it  be  wrong  for  him  to  allay  the  demands 
of  hunger  and  thirst,  to  protect  himself  from  cold,  and  to 
provide  a  shelter  from  the  storm  ?  The  innocence  of  these 
things  being  admitted,  as  it  must  be,  he  applies  the  con- 
cession to  all  the  propensities  and  inclinations  within  him ; 
to  all  that  has  led  him  to  do  what  is  charged  upon  him  as 
wrong,  and  says,  I  am  as  God  made  me,  and  for  that  I  can- 
not be  held  to  be  guilty.  I  ought,  therefore,  to  be  acquitted 
of  the  charge  of  guilt.  Let  us  inquire  whether  this  will 
answer  as  a  ground  of  defence  before  God. 

The  most  obvious  remark  in  regard  to  it  is,  that,  if  it  is 
a  valid  excuse  in  reference  to  religion,  it  is  in  reference  to 
human  conduct  generally.  For  why  may  not  any  man  ac- 
cused of  crime  urge  the  same  thing  in  self-defence  ?  Has  he 
done  any  thing  more  than  act  out  certain  propensities  which 
he  found  in  his  nature  ?  When  Caesar  crossed  the  Rubi- 
con, Hannibal  the  Alps,  Alexander  the  Granicus,  and  Na- 
poleon poured  his  armies  on  Italy,  Egypt,  Austria  or  Rus- 
sia, did  either  do  any  thing  more  than  follow  out  the  incli- 
nations of  his  nature  ?  Did  they  not  find  stirring  within 
them  a  spirit  of  ambition  which  urged  them  on  to  trample 
down  the  liberties  of  mankind  ?  Did  Robespierre  or  Dide- 
rot, Alexander  VI.  or  Coesar  Borgia,  do  any  thing  more  than 
act  out  certain  propensities  in  their  souls  ?  Did  Torque- 
mada  in  the  inquisition,  or  Cortes  in  the  butcheries  of  Mexico, 
do  any  thing  but  act  out  what  they  found  within  theirs  ? 
And  the  assassin,  the  duellist,  the  murderer,  what  does  he 
do  more  ?  Is  he  not  as  God  made  him,  as  much  as  the 
sinner  who  urges  this  plea  ?  And  would  not  this  plea  be  as 
good  for  the  one  as  the  other  ? 

But,  further,  this  plea  is  contrary  to  the  convictions  of 
common  sense  and  the  universal  judgment  of  right  among 
men.  If  it  were  well  founded,  then  the  true  course  for 
man,  if  he  would  please  God,  would  be  to  give  unrestrained 


36  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  TflTH   GOD? 

indulgence  to  every  inclination  in  his  bosom.  Nay,  then 
it  would  be  wrong  for  him  to  check  any  of  his  passions,  and 
his  duty  would  be  to  give  them  the  rankest  growth  and  the 
broadest  indulgence  possible ;  for  should  not  man  cultivate 
all  that  God  has  implanted  in  his  bosom  ?  Then  all  the 
restraints  on  the  passions  of  children  must  be  displeasing  to 
God ;  all  the  lessons  of  order,  morality,  and  religion,  are  a 
contravening  of  his  wishes ;  all  colleges,  schools,  and 
churches  are  a  nuisance ;  all  court-houses  and  prisons  are  a 
violation  of  human  liberty.  '  Then  the  great  benefactors  of 
the  race,  and  those  who  have  been  especially  the  friends  of 
God,  and  have  obtained  the  highest  seat  in  heaven,  have 
been  those  who  have  proclaimed  the  innocence  of  universal 
licentiousness,  or  who  have  furnished  the  greatest  facilities 
for  the  indulgence  of  passion.  From  the  preachers  of  reli- 
gion ;  from  pious  princes  ;  from  the  dispensers  of  justice  ; 
from  the  patrons  of  order  and  of  law ;  from  Paul,  Aurelius, 
and  Hale,  the  crown  is  to  be  transferred  to  such  moralists 
as  Paine,  such  princes  as  Charles  II.,  and  such  judges  as 
Jeffries.  But  who  is  prepared  to  take  this  ground  ?  This 
view  goes  against  the  common  sense  and  the  common  judg- 
ment of  men.  There  are  things  in  man  to  be  restrained,  in 
order  that  he  may  be  virtuous.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  secure 
the  meed  of  virtue  to  say,  I  am  as  God  made  me,  and  am 
but  acting  out  the  propensities  of  my  nature.  What,  then, 
is  the  mistake  which  is  made  in  this  plea  ?  What  fallacy 
is  there  in  it,  for  it  seems  to  have  plausibility  and  truth  ? 
An  answer  may  be  readily  given  to  these  questions  by  mak- 
ing a  distinction,  which  the  young  man  may  apply  through 
life  to  the  noblest  purposes  of  self-improvement.  In  the 
pleas  set  up,  two  things  are  confounded  which  are  wholly 
distinct,  and  to  be  dealt  with  on  different  principles — our 
constitutional  propensities  as  God  made  them,  and  our  cor- 
rupt propensities  which  have  another  origin.  The  former 
are  to  be  cultivated  and  carried  to  the  highest  pitch  of  per- 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      37 

fection  possible;  the  latter  are  to  be  checked,  restrained, 
subdued.  The  former  are  innocent,  noble,  and  ennobling ; 
the  latter  are  debasing  and  degrading — "  earthly,  sensual, 
devilish. "  There  are  propensities  of  our  nature,  and  laws 
of  our  being,  which  God  has  implanted,  and  which,  if  kept 
within  proper  limits,  are  harmless,  or  which  may  contribute 
to  our  highest  elevation  in  the  scale  of  existence.  To  eat, 
to  drink,  to  sleep,  are  laws  of  our  animal  being — harmless 
if  restrained,  debasing  if  indulged  in  contrary  to  the  just 
rules  of  temperance ;  to  aspire  after  knowledge,  to  seek  a 
"good  name,"  to  rise  to  the  fellowship  of  higher  intelli- 
gences, to  bring  out  and  cultivate  the  benevolent  affections, 
is  to  follow  nature  as  God  has  made  us,  and  never  betrays 
or  debases  us.  But  to  follow  out  the  inclinations  of  ambi- 
tion, and  pride,  and  vanity,  and  lust  and  revenge,  is  a  dif- 
ferent'thing.  These  debase  and  sink  to  a  lower  level  than 
that  of  brutes ;  for,  in  proportion  as  we  may  rise,  so  may  we 
descend.  The  star  that  culminates  highest  may  sink  the 
lowest,  and  as  woman,  if  vile,  sinks  lower  than  man  can, 
so  man,  if  debased,  sinks  beneath  the  brute. 

Men  mistake,  then,  in  this.  When  they  indulge  in  these 
things,  they  are  not,  in  any  proper  sense,  acting  out  their 
nature.  They  are  not  as  God  made  them.  They  are  sunken, 
debased,  fallen.  Let  men  act  according  to  the  great  laws 
which  He  has  impressed  upon  their  being,  and  they  will  be 
noble,  holy,  godlike.  Thus  acting,  man  would  have  met 
the  approbation  of  his  Maker,  and  might  have  pleaded  in- 
nocent to  the  charges  of  guilt.  But  let  him  not  give  indul- 
gence to  corruption,  and  then  seek  shelter  in  the  plea,  "  I 
am  as  God  made  me." 

III.  A  third  ground  of  defence  would  be,  that  the  law  of 
God  is  stern  and  severe,  and  that  his  requirements  are  of 
such  a  nature,  that  man  has  no  power  to  comply  with  them. 
The  position  which  would  be  taken  is,  that  there  is  no  obli- 
gation where  there  is  no  ability,  and  that,  as  man  now 


38  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST  .WITH   GOD? 

has  no  power  to  yield  obedience,  he  cannot  be  held  to  be 
chargeable  with  guilt.  The  principle  here  stated  seems  to 
be  one  that  is  based  on  common  sense,  and  that  must  ever 
command  the  assent  of  all  men  who  are  not  blinded  by 
theory  or  by  prejudice.  It  is  impossible  for  man  to  feel 
himself  guilty  or  blameworthy  for  not  doing  what  he  had 
no  power  to  do.  He  may  count  it  a  misfortune,  or  he  may  ex- 
perience calamities  and  suffer  losses,  because  he  has  no  greater 
power ;  but  it  is  not  possible  for  him  to  feel  on  this  account 
the  compunctions  of  remorse.  With  the  limited  powers  of 
man,  it  is  impossible  for  him  ever  to  feel  himself  guilty  for 
not  creating  a  world,  or  not  guiding  the  stars,  or  not  raising 
the  dead,  and  he  cannot  conceive  that,  by  any  revelation 
whatever,  or-  any  course  of  reasoning,  or  any  requirement 
laid  on  him,  he  should  ever  feel  himself  blameworthy  for 
not  doing  those  things.  If,  then,  it  were  so  that  &od  has 
required  of  man  more  than  he  is  in  any  sense  able  to  per- 
form, the  nature  which  he  has  given  us  (and  which,  in  that 
case,  would  be  a  very  strange  and  unaccountable  endow- 
ment) would  teach  us  two  things  :  one,  that  his  government 
was  a  tyranny,  and  the  other,  that  man  could  not  be  to 
blame.  Such  a  creature,  under  such  a  government,  might 
be  made  to  suffer,  but  could  not  be  punished ;  he  might 
experience  pain  of  body,  but  he  never  would  know  the 
pangs  of  remorse.  But  is  this  so  ?  The  law  itself  is  the 
best  exponent  of  the  views  of  God  on  this  subject,  and  that 
law  is  clear  and  explicit.  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind."  This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment. 
And  the  second  is  like  unto  it :  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang 
all  the  law  and  the  prophets."  Matt.  xxii.  37—40.  Could 
any  thing  be  more  reasonable  than  this  ?  God  asks  nothing 
which  we  have  not;  nothing  which  we  have  no  power  to 
render.  He  asks  "  all"  the  heart,  the  mind,  the  strength, 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  39 

and  he  asks  no  more.  He  does  cot  require  for  himself  the 
service  claimed  of  angelic  powers,  but  that  adapted  to  our 
own ;  he  asks  no  love  for  our  neighbour  which  we  do  not 
feel  that  we  are  abundantly  able  to  show  to  ourselves.  To 
take  shelter  from  the  charges  against  us,  under  the  plea 
that  our  Maker  has  required  services  beyond  our  power  to 
render,  is  therefore  directly  in  the  face  of  his  own  require- 
ments ;  is  to  charge  him  with  tyranny  where  his  require- 
ments are  as  clear  as  noonday,  and  as  equal  as  they  can  be, 
and  where  he  has  expressly  told  us  that  the  plea  cannot  and 
will  not  be  sustained : — "  0  house  of  Israel,  are  not  my 
ways  equal  ?  Are  not  your  ways  unequal  ?  Therefore 
will  I  judge  you,  0  house  of  Israel,  according  to  your  ways, 
saith  the  Lord  God.  Repent  and  turn  yourselves  from 
all  your  transgressions,  so  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin." 
Ezek.  xviii.  29,  30. 

IV.  A  fourth  ground  of  defence,  on  which  man  charged 
with  guilt  is  secretly  relying  in  self-justification,  is,  that  the 
penalty  of  the  law  of  God  is  unreasonably  severe,  and  that 
no  consideration  can  make  it  right  to  recompense  the  errors 
and  crimes  of  this  short  life  with  eternal  punishment.  The 
ground  here  taken  is,  that  it  would  be  wrong  for  God  to 
punish  man  in  this  manner,  and  therefore  that  man  has  a 
claim  to  eternal  life.  The  inference  drawn  by  the  sin- 
ner charged  with  guilt  is,  that  if  the  penalty  is  unreason- 
ably severe,  he  cannot  be  held  to  be  guilty,  and  has  a 
right  to  disregard  the  law  of  his  Maker.  Now  it  is  not 
designed  here  to  attempt  a  defence  of  the  doctrine  of  eter- 
nal puishnient,  or  to  show  that  the  impenitent  sinner  will 
suiFer  for  ever.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there  are  myste- 
ries on  that  subject  which  the  human  powers  at  present  can- 
not explain.  All  that  the  subject  demands  is  to  examine 
this  reasoning  which  the  sinner  sets  up  in  his  defence.  Is 
the  severity  of  a  penalty  then,  even  supposing  it  to  be 
wholly  unreasonable,  a  valid  excuse  for  violating  law  or  lor 


40  HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 

doing  wrong  ?  It  is  possible  to  conceive,  for  such  things 
have  been,  that  the  penalty  for  the  crime  of  treason  may  be 
entirely  too  severe ;  that  its  execution  may  be  attended  with 
barbarous  cruelty ;  and  that  it  may  be  followed  by  a  taint 
of  blood,  and  by  inflictions  on  the  family  of  the  traitor 
wholly  unjustifiable  by  any  principles  of  equity ;  but  would 
this  be  any  justification  of  the  act  of  treason  ?  Does  it 
make  the  betrayal  of  the  state  a  matter  of  duty  or  of  inno- 
cence ?  Is  it  such  a  meritorious  act  that  he  who  performs 
it  has  a  claim  on  the  offices  and  emoluments  which  a  sove- 
reign has  to  bestow  on  deserving  subjects  ?  So  in  the  mat- 
ter before  us.  If  there  are  things  which  we  cannot  explain 
about  future  punishment;  if  it  has  a  degree  of  severity 
which  we  have  no  means  of  vindicating ;  is  it  fair  to  infer 
that  it  is  right  to  violate  the  law  of  heaven,  and  has  he  who 
does  it  a  claim  on  the  crown  of  glory  ?  Yet  this  seems 
to  be  what  is  involved  in  this  ground  of  defence  which 
a  man  charged  with  sin  sets  up.  Would  it  be  reasonable  or 
proper  for  him  to  suppose  that  God  would  admit  a  plea, 
drawn  from  his  own  alleged  injustice  and  cruelty,  as  a  rea- 
son for  the  habitual  violation  of  his  law?  But  the  plea 
has  no  force  in  another  respect.  Our  relations  to  the 
administration  of  justice  are  not  only  concerned  with  the 
question  what  the  penalty  is,  but  with  the  question  whe- 
ther it  is  practicable  to  avoid  it  ?  There  may  be  reasons 
operating  in  the  appointment  of  a  penalty  which  we  do  not 
understand.  It  is  only  necessary  for  us  to  know  what 
the  penalty  zs,  and  to  have  such  freedom  that  we  can  avoid 
it  by  a  correct  life.  They  who  live  in  England  now,  or 
they  who  lived  under  the  administration  of  the  laws  in 
times  of  greater  severity,  can  have  no  reason  to  complain, 
so  far  as  appears,  of  the  punishment  affixed  there  to  treason. 
It  can  be  readily  seen,  indeed,  that  there  would  be  much 
that  would  be  painful  and  disgraceful  in  being  drawn  on  a 
hurdle  to  the  place  of  execution ;  in  being  quartered  and 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      41 

publicly  exposed ;  in  the  confiscation  of  property ;  the  degra- 
dation of  a  family,  and  the  taint  of  blood.  Why  should  a 
good  citizen,  who  did  not  design  to  commit  treason,  com- 
plain of  it?  It  would  be  easy  to  avoid  it,  and  his  knowing 
the  severity  of  the  punishment  should  only  make  him  the 
more  cautious  to  do  his  duty  to  his  country.  Least  of  all, 
knowing  what  the  penalty  was,  could  he  set  up  a  plea  of 
innocence  when  he  had  betrayed  his  country,  on  the  ground 
that  the  penalty  was  severe.  Without  pursuing  this  rea- 
soning any  farther,  may  it  not  be  asked  whether  it  is  not 
just  as  applicable  to  the  government  of  God  as  to  a  human 
administration  ? 

Y.  There  is  but  one  other  ground  of  defence  or  self-jus- 
tification which  the  accused  sinner  can  be  supposed  to  set 
up.  It  is  that  too  great  results  are  made  to  depend  on  the 
present  life ;  that  life  is  too  short,  that  our  days  are  too  few 
and  fleeting,  that  our  continuance  here  is  too  uncertain,  that 
we  are  liable  to  be  too  suddenly  called  away,  to  make  it 
proper  to  suspend  so  great  interests  on  any  thing  that  we 
can  do  here.  The  accused  sinner  would  take  the  ground 
that  eternal  consequences  demand  a  longer  probation,  and 
that  the  longevity  of  the  antediluvian  patriarchs  was  a  pe- 
riod quite  circumscribed  enough  to  make  it  proper  to  suspend 
so  great  interests  upon  life.  Much  might  be  said  in  reply 
to  this ;  but  the  subject  may  be  made,  perhaps,  sufficiently 
plain  by  a  few  remarks.  Reference  might  be  made  to  the 
instances  which  occur  in  the  life  of  an  individual,  or  in  a 
state,  where  the  most  momentous  and  far-reaching  results 
are  made  to  depend  on  the  action  of  a  moment;  but,  with- 
out dwelling  on  the  numerous  illustrations  which  occur  on 
that  point,  two  remarks  may  be  made  in  reply  to  this  ground 
of  defence  :  One  is,  that,  as  experience  has,  in  millions  of 
cases,  shown,  the  time  allotted  to  man  is  ample  for  a  prepa- 
ration for  eternity.  Countless  hosts  before  the  throne  have 
found  it  so,  and  millions  are  on  their  way  to  join  them  who 


42  HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST   WlfTH  GOD? 

find  the  period  of  probation  abundant  to  enable  {hem  to  pre- 
pare for  heaven.  That  all  others  are  not  with  them  in  the  same 
blissful  path,  is  not  because  life  is  too  short  to  enter  it,  but 
is  to  be  traced  to  other  causes.  Men  require  length  of  days 
to  amass  wealth,  or  to  perfect  their  schemes  of  earthly  ag- 
grandizement; but  the  purposes  of  salvation  do  not  need  it. 
The  giving  of  the  heart  to  God  in  sincerity  through  Jesus 
Christ — an  act  which  may  be  performed  in  the  briefest  pe- 
riod which  a  moral  agent  lives — is  enough  to  secure  salva- 
tion. Wealth  or  honour  could  not  be  secured  in  that  way 
in  so  brief  a  period ;  but  the  salvation  of  the  soul  may  be. 
The  other  remark  is,  that  this  vindication  is  set  up  in  cir- 
cumstances which  painfully  demonstrate  that  it  cannot  be 
sincere.  Not  time  enough  to  secure  salvation  !  Too  great 
interests  suspended  on  this  brief  period  of  existence  !  Un- 
reasonable to  make  eternal  results  depend  on  the  fleeting 
hours  of  this  short  life.  And  from  whom  do  these  objec- 
tions come  ?  From  those  on  whom  the  hours  of  life  hang 
heavily,  and  "  who  are  often  wishing  its  different  periods  at 
an  end ;"  from  those  who  are  impatient  for  some  season  of 
festivity  or  enjoyment  to  arrive,  and  who  elude  the  slow- 
revolving  wheels  of  time ;  from  those  whose  days  are  wea- 
riness and  sadness,  for  they  have  nothing  to  interest  them, 
nothing  to  do ;  from  those  whose  principal  study  is  the  art 
of  killing  time,  and  all  whose  plans  have  no  other  end ;  from 
those  who  waste  the  hours  that  might  be  consecrated  to 
prayer  in  needless  slumber,  and  from  whose  lips  each  morn- 
ing, while  they  are  now  locked  in  repose,  there  might  pro- 
ceed the  earnest  breathing  of  a  penitent  heart  that  would 
insure  salvation  ;  from  those  who,  over  worthless,  or  corrupt- 
ing verse,  or  in  the  perusal  of  romances,  or  in  day-dreams, 
or  at  the  toilet,  waste,  each  day,  time  enough  to  secure  the 
redemption  of  the  soul.  From  such  lips  and  hearts ;  from 
those  who  live  thus,  and  to  whom  life  puts  on  these  forms, 
assuredly  the  objection  should  not  be  heard,  that  too  great 


\ 

HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      43 

results  are  made  to  depend  on  this  short  life,  and  that  there- 
fore they  are  blameless  in  neglecting  God. 

If  these  aie  correct  views,  then  the  sinner  cannot  justify 
himself.  It  has  been  shown  that  he  cannot  deny  the  reality 
of  the  facts  charged  on  him,  and  the  grounds  of  defence 
which  the  human  heart  is  disposed  to  set  up  in  self-vindica- 
tion have  been  considered.  It  is  not  improper,  at  this  stage 
of  the  argument,  to  make  a  personal  appeal  to  the  reader, 
and  to  ask  him  to  consider  the  views  which  have  been  sug- 
gested as  a  personal  matter.  The  conclusion  which  we 
have  reached  is,  that  the  unpardoned  sinner  is  a  lost  and 
ruined  being ;  that  he  is  under  condemnation ;  that  he  is 
held  to  be  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God ;  that  he  is  soon  to  be 
arraigned  on  charges  involving  the  question  of  his  eternal 
welfare,  and  that,  unless  he  is  in  some  way  acquitted  of 
those  charges,  they  will  sink  him  to  ruin.  The  views 
which  have  been  thus  expressed,  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the 
system  of  salvation  by  grace.  They  are  such  as,  when  felt, 
lead  to  the  conviction  of  sin,  and  to  that  sense  of  helpless- 
ness which  is  preparatory  to  the  reception  of  pardon  and 
salvation  by  the  grace  of  the  gospel.  If  these  views  pro- 
duced their  fitting  effect,  they  would  leave  the  impression 
of  guilt,  helplessness,  and  danger  on  the  mind  of  every  one 
who  is  not  converted  and  pardoned.  Sooner  or  later  every 
one  will  feel  this.  The  sinner  may  be  unwilling  to  admit 
the  force  of  these  arguments  now ;  for  no  one,  if  he  can 
help  it,  will  be  overwhelmed  with  the  conviction  of  guilt,  or 
have  his  mind  unsettled  and  harassed  by  apprehensions  of 
danger.  But  not  always  can  he  put  this  subject  far  from 
him.  He  will  lie  down  and  die,  and  those  are  sad  feelings 
which  the  dying  sinner  has,  when  he  reflects  that  his  life 
has  been  spent  in  sin,  and  that  he  is  dying  under  condemna- 
tion. He  will,  from  the  bed  of  death,  look  out  tremblingly 
on  the  eternal  world — on  that  shoreless  and  bottomless 
ocean  on  which  he  is  about  to  be  launched,  and  it  will  be 


44  HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 

sad  to  feel  that  he  is  about  to  enter  that  vast  and  fearful 
•world,  an  unpardoned  sinner.  He  will  tread  his  way  up  to 
the  bar  of  a  holy  God ;  and,  little  as  he  may  be  concerned 
about  that  now,  it  will  be  sad  to  tread  that  gloomy  way 
alone,  and  to  feel,  as  he  goes,  that  he  is  under  condemnation. 
He  will  stand  and  look  on  the  burning  throne  of  Deity,  and 
on  his  final  Judge ;  he  will  await,  and  with  what  an  agony 
of  emotion  !  the  sentence  that  shall  fall  from  his  lips  sealing 
his  eternal  doom.  Oh,  how  can  he  then  be  just  with  God  ? 
How  vindicate  his  ways  before  him  ?  How  stand  then 
and  justify  his  neglect  of  his  commands,  his  neglect  of 
prayer,  his  neglect  of  the  offers  of  mercy,  his  neglect  of 
his  own  soul  ?  How.  then,  can  he  show  his  Maker  that  it 
was  right  not  to  love  him,  not  to  pray  to  him,  not  to  thank 
him,  not  to  embrace  his  offer  of  mercy  ?  How  can  he  sho\¥ 
that  it  was  right  for  him  to  live  without  hope  and  without 
God  in  the  world  ?  How  can  he  be  saved  ? 

IV.  Man  cannot  merit  salvation. 

In  the  previous  section  it  has  been  shown  that  man  can- 
not justify  himself  either  by  denying  the  facts  charged  on 
him,  or  by  showing  that  he  had  a  right  to  do  as  he  has 
done.  The  inquiry  at  once  presents  itself,  How  then  can  he 
be  saved  ?  There  are  but  two  ways  conceivable  :  one  by  hia 
own  merits — that  is,  that  he  somehow  deserves  to  be  saved ; 
the  other,  by  the  merits  of  another,  or  of  others.  If  it  ba 
in  the  latter  way,  it  must  either  be  by  the  merits  of  Christ, 
or  it  must  be  because  certain  eminent  saints  have  done  more 
than  was  demanded  of  them,  and  that  their  merits,  gar- 
nered up  and  deposited  in  certain  hands,  can  be  made  ovei 
to  others.  It  is  not  proposed  to  inquire  now  whether  this 
latter  method  be  in  accordance  with  truth,  but  whether  men 
can  merit  salvation  for  themselves.  They  can  do  it  if  their 
lives  are  such  that  they  deserve  to  go  to  heaven,  or  if  it 
would  be  wrong  for  God  to  punish  them  forever,  for  "  God 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      45 

will  not  do  wickedly,  neither  will  the  Almighty  pervert 
judgment."  Job  xxxv.  12.  The  importance  of  this  in- 
quiry will  be  at  once  perceived,  for  the  great  mass  of  man- 
kind are  depending  on  their  own  righteousness  for  salva- 
tion, and  the  grand  issue  between  Christianity  and  the 
world  lies  just  in  this  point.  There  are  two  subjects  of 
inquiry,  which,  if  they  can  be  made  clear,  will  conduct  to 
the  truth  in  the  case. 

I.  What  is  meant  by  merit  ? 

II.  Can  man  merit  heaven  ? 

I.  What  is  meant  by  merit  ?  The  word  is  in  common 
use,  and  the  common  use  is  the  correct  one.  We  speak  of 
merit  when  a  man  deserves  a  reward  for  something  which 
he  has  done,  or  when  it  would  be  wrong  to  withhold  it. 
He  renders  to  him  who  employs  him  an  equivalent,  or  what 
is  of  as  much  value  as  is  paid  him  for  his  services.  Two  or 
three  simple  illustrations  will  make  the  common  use  of  the 
word  plain,  and  show  its  bearing  on  the  question  before  us. 

You  hire  a  day-labourer.  You  make  a  bargain  with  him 
at  the  outset ;  he  complies  with  the  terms  on  his  part,  and 
at  night  you  pay  him.  He  has  earned,  deserved,  or  merited 
that  which  you  pay  him ;  he  has  been  faithful  to  his  part 
of  the  agreement,  and  the  service  which  he  has  rendered  is 
worth  as  much  to  you  as  the  wages  which  you  pay  him. 
You  could  have  done  the  work,  perhaps,  yourself;  but  you 
preferred  to  hire  him,  for  you  might  yourself  be  more  profit- 
ably or  pleasantly  employed.  At  all  events,  what  he  has 
done  is  worth  to  you  all  which  you  pay  him,  and  it  would 
be  wrong,  on  every  consideration,  for  you  to  withhold  it.  If 
you  choose  to  give  him,  any  thing  more  than  was  specified 
in  the  agreement,  it  would  be  a  gratuity ;  but  that  which 
you  agreed  to  give  him  he  has  a  right  to  demand,  and  you 
are  not  at  liberty  to  withhold  it.  He  has  deserved  or  earned 
it,  for  he  has  rendered  you  a  full  equivalent,  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  contract. 


46  HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  TfETH  GOD? 

A  man  enlists  to  defend  his  country  as  a  soldier.  It 
is  supposed,  in  the  contract  which  is.  made  with  him, 
that  his  service  will  be  of  equal  value  to  his  country 
with  the  pay  which  he  receives.  By  fighting  its  battles; 
by  guarding  its  seacoasts,  villages,  towns,  and  hamlets ; 
by  keeping  its  fields  from  being  trod  down  by  an  enemy ; 
by  protecting  the  lives  of  aged  men,  helpless  women  and 
children ;  and  by  defending  the  flag  of  the  nation  from 
insult,  it  is  supposed  that  his  services  are  worth  full  as 
much  to  the  country  as  he  receives  in  his  pay.  The  pay 
is  graduated,  in  part,  by  the  best  estimate  which  can  be 
made  of  the  value  of  the  service  which  a  man  can  render 
in  this  calling,  and  the  nation  would  be  no  gainer  by  dis- 
missing him  from  its  service.  He  complies  with  the  con- 
tract, and  when  he  comes  and  shows  his  scars,  and  tells  of 
his  perils  and  privations,  his  weary  marches  and  his  risk  of 
life,  and  his  separation  from  home  and  friends  in  the  cause 
of  his  country,  his  country  will  not  grudge  him  the  pittance 
that  he  receives ;  for  he  has  earned  it  and  merited  it,  and 
it  would  not  be  right  to  withhold  it  from  him. 

You  employ  a  physician.  The  service  which  he  renders 
you  is  regarded  as  a  full  equivalent  for  what  you  pay  him. 
What  you  receive  from  him  in  his  care,  attention,  skill,  and 
sympathy,  you  consider  to  be  fully  equal  in  value  to  the 
compensation  which  you  give  him.  Your  relief  from  pain, 
your  recovery  of  the  use  of  your  bodily  powers,  or  the  res- 
toration to  your  affectionate  embrace,  in  sound  health,  of  a 
wife  or  child,  you  consider  as  an  ample  equivalent  for  all 
which  he  asks  you  for  his  services,  and,  were  an  election  to 
be  made,  you  would  much  prefer  to  pay  the  amount  of  the 
physician's  fees,  to  going  through  those  sorrows  again. 
What  he  receives,  you  feel  that  on  every  account  he  de- 
serves or  has  earned,  and  it  would  be  wrong  for  you  to 
withhold  it. 

In  each  of  these  cases,  that  is  true  which  the  apostle 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      47 

Paul  affirms :  "  To  him  that  worketh,  the  reward  is  not 
reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt."  These  illustrations  will 
explain  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  "merit."  In  each 
instance,  there  is  an  equivalent  for  what  is  paid;  in  each 
instance,  what  is  demanded  could  be  enforced  as  a  claim  of 
right.  There  is  no  other  sense  in  which  the  words  merit 
or  desert  can  be  used.  All  besides  this  is  favour  or  grace. 
If  you  choose  to  give  the  day-labourer,  the  soldier,  or  the 
professional  man,  more  than  you  agreed,  or  more  than  his 
services  are  worth  to  you,  you  have  an  undoubted  right  to 
do  so ;  but  you  would  not  put  it  on  the  ground  of  his  merit 
or  desert.  You  would  feel  that  it  was  a  gratuity  which 
could  not  be  enforced  by  justice,  and  where  no  blame  would 
be  attached  to  you  if  it  were  withheld.  If  his  perils,  or 
services,  or  self-denials  and  sacrifices,  were  greater  than  you 
anticipated  when  the  contract  was  made,  or  if  the  service 
rendered  was  really  of  more  value  to  you  than  the  amount 
which  you  are  pledged  to  give  him,  you  may  consider  your- 
self bound  by  equity  to  give  him  more ;  for  you  feel  that 
he  has  earned  or  merited  it.  Thus  you  would  be  glad  to 
compensate,  if  you  could,  the  wounded  soldier  who  has 
perilled  all  in  your  defence ;  and  on  the  same  principle,  if 
you  could  do  it,  you  would  wish  to  recompense  the  man 
who,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  should  save  your  child  from  the 
devouring  flame,  or  from  a  watery  grave. 

II.  We  come  now  to  apply  these  principles  to  the  case 
before  us.  Keeping  this  explanation  of  the  nature  of  merit 
in  view,  we  approach  the  inquiry,  whether  man  can  merit 
heaven.  Can  he  be  saved  because  he  deserves  it  ?  Can 
he  be  so  profitable  to  God  that  he  can  advance  a  just  claim 
to  an  admission  to  the  world  of  glory  ?  If  he  can,  he  will 
be  saved ;  if  he  cannot,  he  should  lose  no  time  in  endea- 
vouring to  ascertain  whether  there  is  any  other  way  by 
which  he  may  be  saved  ?  In  reference  to  this  inquiry,  the 
following  considerations  may  be  submitted  : 


48  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   JVITH   GOD? 

(1.)  Man  can  render  no  service  to  his  Maker  for  which 
the  reward  of  heaven  would  be  a  proper  equivalent.  Or, 
in  other  words,  the  amount  of  service  which  he  can  render 
is  not  such  as  can  be  properly  measured  by  the  reward  of 
everlasting  life.  His  service  to  his  Maker  and  to  the  uni- 
verse is  not  of  so  much  value  that  he  can  claim  eternal  life 
as  an  equivalent.  We  have  seen  that  this  does  exist  in  the 
case  of  the  day-labourer,  the  soldier,  and  the  physician. 
We  can  see  a  correspondence  between  the  service  rendered 
and  the  compensation,  in  these  cases,  which  makes  us  feel 
that  there  is  a  propriety  and  equity  in  the  reward.  But,  in 
reference  to  any  connection  or  correspondence  between  the 
service  which  man  can  render  his  Maker  and  the  rewards 
of  heaven,  we  can  see  no  such  propriety  and  equity.  The 
one  does  not  measure  the  other.  The  universe  is  not  so 
much  benefitted  by  the  service  of  man,  that  everlasting  life 
and  infinite  happiness  would  be  only  a  fair  equivalent, 
or  that  wrong  would  be  done  if  that  reward  should  be 
withheld.  Yet  is  it  not  a  fair  principle  that  this  must  be 
the  case  if  man  deserves  or  merits  salvation  ?  Must  there 
not  have  been  such  an  amount  or  value  of  service  rendered 
that  it  would  be  injustice  to  withhold  the  reward — injustice 
such  as  would  occur  in  the  case  of  the  faithful  day-labourer, 
the  soldier,  the  physician,  if  their  pay  was  withheld? 
That  must  be  extraordinary  service  rendered  to  the  universe, 
or  to  God,  which  deserves  the  glories  of  an  eternal  heaven 
as  its  reward.  That  is  extraordinary  service  rendered  to 
you,  if  a  stranger  rescues  a  child  from  impending  death  and 
restores  him  to  your  transported  bosom,  and  you  feel  that  no 
compensation  which  you  can  make  would  be  more  than  an 
equivalent.  That  was  extraordinary  service  which  was  ren- 
dered to  their  country  by  the  heroes  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution; and,  as  the  results  of  their  patriotism  and  perils  are 
seen  in  the  unexampled  prosperity  of  the  land  which  they 
rescued,  we  feel  that  the  pension  of  the  old  soldier  is  a  very 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      49 

inadequate  recompense.  That  was  extraordinary  virtue 
which,  led  the  father  of  his  country  through  the  trials,  per- 
plexities, and  perils  of  that  time,  and  which  he  evinced 
when,  having  laid  the  foundation  of  our  liberty,  he  volunta- 
rily retired  to  private  life,  leaving  the  people  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  freedom,  and  we  feel  that  no  wealth  which  the 
nation  had  to  offer,  no  monument  of  marble  or  of  brass 
which  art  could  rear,  would  equal  the  measure  of  his  praise. 
But  has  man  any  such  extraordinary  service  to  render  to 
his  Maker  and  to  the  universe  ?  Has  he  done  any  thing, 
can  he  do  any  thing  for  God  and  for  the  empire  which  He 
rules,  which  would  make  the  wealth  of  heaven  and  its  ever- 
lasting glories  only  an  equitable  recompense  ?  Obviously, 
there  is  no  congruity,  no  fitness,  no  correspondence  between 
the  one  and  the  other,  and  when  men  talk  about  meriting 
heaven,  or  when  they  feel  that  they  deserve  to  be  saved, 
they  have  not  well  considered  the  import  of  language. 
They  use  it  correctly  in  common  life.  Is  it  not  right  to 
ask  that  it  may  be  used  with  the  same  exactness  in  religion  ? 

(2.)  This  general  principle,  which  appears  so  obvious, 
may  be  illustrated  with  particular  reference  to  the  religious 
service  which  men  render  to  their  Maker.  If  man  merits 
heaven  and  is  to  be  saved  on  account  of  his  own  deservings, 
it  will  be  conceded  that  the  service  must  be  in  some  way 
connected  with  religion,  or  of  such  a  nature  that  it  can  be 
regarded  as  the  service  of  God.  You  would  not  feel  your- 
self bound  to  pay  a  day-labourer  if,  instead  of  working  for 
you,  he  worked  all  day  for  your  neighbour,  or  was  idle; 
you  would  not  think  of  recompensing  a  soldier  if  he  slept 
on  his  post,  or  fought  under  the  standard  of  the  enemy. 

There  are  religious  men  upon  the  earth,  men  who  are 
honestly  engaged  in  the  service  of  God,  and  who,  in  con- 
nection with  their  religious  services,  are  looking  for  the 
rewards  of  heaven.  Our  subject,  in  its  progress,  demands 
that  we  inquire  just  here,  whether  the  service  which  they 


50  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST  1WITH   GOD? 

render  is  of  such  a  nature  that  they  merit  eternal  life  ?  Is 
it  because  they  are  so  profitable  to  God  and  his  cause  that 
the  rewards  of  heaven  would  be  only  an  equivalent  fo/  the 
service  which  they  render  ?  Let  us  look  a  moment  at  this 
matter. 

A  man  who  is  truly  religious  renders  a  real  and  valuable 
service  to  the  cause  of  virtue  and  of  God.  His  existence 
is  a  blessing  and  not  a  curse.  The  universe  is  made  better 
and  happier  because  he  lives.  It  would  be  a  loss  to  society 
and  to  the  universe,  if  his  example,  his  conversation,  his 
plans  of  wisdom,  his  experience,  and  his  generous  deeds, 
were  annihilated,  or  had  not  been.  When  the  "rewards" 
of  heaven  are  bestowed  upon  him,  it  will  not  be  without 
some  reference  to  a  fitness  or  propriety  that  they  should  be 
so  bestowed.  There  will  be  a  sense  in  which  every  man 
will  be  "  rewarded  according  to  his  works."  But,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  bearing  of  this  indisputable  fact  on  the  case 
before  us,  there  are  two  or  three  things  that  deserve  to  be 
considered. 

(a)  One  is,  that  your  individual  existence  is  not  neces- 
sary to  secure  the  service  which  is  now  actually  rendered. 
God  is  not  so  dependent  on  you  that  he  could  not  accom- 
plish his  purposes  without  you,  or  that,  if  you  should  be 
removed,  service  of  equal  value  might  not  be  secured  in 
some  other  way.  By  the  great  law  of  his  kingdom,  the 
agency  of  man  is  to  be  employed  in  the  accomplishment  of 
his  purposes;  but  your  individual  agency  is  not  indispensa- 
ble. The  services  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  who  is  emi- 
nently useful,  and  who  is  at  a  time  of  life,  and  has  a  mea- 
sure of  experience  and  learning,  that  seems  to  fit  him  for  an 
important  station,  can  be  supplied  by  some  one  that  God  can 
place  in  his  stead.  When  he  is  taken  away,  a  mighty 
chasm,  indeed,  seems  to  be  made ;  but  his  withdrawal  soon 
ceases  to  be  felt,  for  others  rush  in  to  fill  his  place ;  as  the 
surface  of  the  ocean  soon  becomes  smooth,  and  it  seems  to  be 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      51 

as  full  as  it  was  before,  though  the  waterspout  has  lifted  up 
and  carried  away  a  portion  of  the  mighty  deep,  or  the  sun 
causes  it  to  ascend  in  vapours;  for  streams  and  rivers  all  the 
while  pour  into  that  ocean  and  it  is  always  kept  full.  The 
man  that  was  so  learned  and  wise  that  it  seemed  that  no  one 
else  could  supply  his  place  at  the  head  of  a  college,  or  so 
sagacious  and  prudent  that  it  seemed  that  some  vast  plan 
of  benevolence  depended  on  him,  is  removed1 — but  the  chasm 
is  soon  filled  up ;  just  as  in  storming  a  city,  when  the  leader 
falls,  some  subaltern  steps  into  his  place,  and  leads  on  the 
conquest  with  the  freshness  of  youth,  and  with  wisdom  and 
valour  that  had  been  in  training  for  just  this  breach  which 
God  foresaw  would  occur.  Let  us  not  then  suppose  that  our 
services  are  indispensable  to  God.  Let  us  not  imagine,  that 
he  is  dependent  on  us  or  is  under  obligation  to  us.  In  the 
bosom  of  society  there  are  undeveloped  powers  which  will 
more  than  fill  our  places ;  in  the  church  there  is  piety  ma- 
turing which  can  do  more  than  we  can  do — and  the  very 
purposes  of  human  advancement  cherished  in  the  divine 
mind,  may  demand  our  removal. 

(ft)  The  religious  man  will  reflect  further  that  his  best 
services  do  not  deserve  heaven.  A  man  who  is  truly  pious, 
and  who  has  any  proper  sense  of  his  own  imperfections,  and 
of  the  glory  to  which  he  is  looking  forward,  never  feels  that 
there  is  any  proportion  between  the  services  which  he  ren- 
ders to  God  here,  and  the  immortal  blessedness  to  which  he 
hopes  to  be  elevated  hereafter.  He  renders  no  service  to 
the  cause  of  truth  and  virtue,  which,  in  his  own  estimation, 
is  an  equivalent  for  the  rewards  which  he  trusts  are  in  re- 
serve for  him,  and  after  all  his  toils  he  feels  that  those  rewards 
will  be  not  of  "  debt"  but  of  grace,  and  that  he  is  an  "  un- 
profitable servant."  God  has  taken  effectual  care  of  this  in 
his  plan  of  salvation ;  and  whoever  he  may  be  that  expects 
heaven  on  the  ground  of  his  own  merit,  it  will  not  be  he 


52  HOW  SHALL  MAN   BE  JUST  ]WTTH  GOD? 

who  gives  evidence  that  he  is  truly  a  devoted  and  faithful 
servant  of  God. 

(c)  If;  however,  at  any  time  this  feeling  of  merit  or  claim 
should  arise  in  the  mind  of  a  truly  pious  man,  it  is  effec- 
tually checked  by  a  moment's  reflection  on  the  way  in  which 
he  has  been  disposed  to  engage  in  the  service  of  God  at  all. 
It  is  not  by  any  native  inclination  or  tendency  of  mind ;  it 
has  been  solely  by  grace.  Whatever  service  he  may  render, 
the  origin  of  it  is  to  be  traced  back  to  that  distinguishing 
mercy  which  led  him  to  seek  after  God,  when  he  was  dis- 
posed to  pursue  his  own  ways ;  which  recalled  him  when  he 
was  a  wretched  wanderer  from  the  paths  of  truth  and  salva- 
tion. The  case  is  like  this.  You  go  into  a  "  market  place" 
and  find  a  man  "  idle/'  and  inclined  to  be  idle.  You  reason 
and  remonstrate  with  him,  and  by  persevering  entreaty  and 
the  offer  of  reward,  arouse  him  from  his  indolence  and  in- 
duce him  to  spend  his  time  in  your  service.  Now,  however 
faithful  he  may  be,  or  however  valuable  may  be  the  services 
which  he  may  render  you,  he  will  never  feel  that  any  merit 
is  to  be  attributed  to  himself.  He  owes  to  you  his  indus- 
trious habits,  and  all  which  he  can  ever  secure  by  his  labour. 
Or  to  take  a  case  more  in  point.  You  go  into  a  miserable 
hovel,  and  find  a  wretch  in  the  lowest  stages  of  vice  and 
misery.  He  was  once  a  man  in  heart  as  well  as  in  form, 
but  now  he  has  wholly  lost  the  manhood  of  the  one  and 
almost  of  the  other.  He  is  loathsome  by  vice  and  disease, 
and  is  a  wretched  outcast.  He  has  no  wish  to  be  a  man 
again ;  he  has  no  energy  to  arouse  him  from  his  condition ; 
he  has  no  friend  to  take  him  by  the  hand,  or  even  to  pity 
him  in  his  vices  and  woes.  You  take  compassion  on  him. 
You  clothe  him  in  decent  apparel.  You  remonstrate  with 
him  on  his  evil  course.  You  remind  him  of  what  he  was, 
and  tell  him  of  what  he  may  be  still.  You  rekindle  the 
dying  spark  of  self-respect ;  show  him  that  he  may  yet  for- 
sake the  paths  of  vice  and  be  respectable  again ;  gradually 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      53 

breathe  into  him  the  wish  to  be  virtuous  and  pure  and  happy; 
give  him  a  comfortable  home  to  dwell  in,  and  a  piece  of 
land  to  cultivate  as  his  own ;  speak  kindly  to  him  when  he 
is  discouraged ;  shield  him  when  he  is  tempted  by  his  old 
companions;  offer  him  ample  reward  for  any  services  which 
he  may  render  you ;  and  he  returns  to  the  ways  of  industry, 
and  rises  to  a  condition  of  competency  and  respectability. 
Perchance  in  doing  this,  you  have  lighted  on  a  "  gem  of 
purest  *ray  serene"  in  that  rubbish,  and  the  unhappy  wretch 
whom  you  have  rescued,  had  a  genius  which  takes  its  place 
among  the  brightest  constellations  of  talent,  and  its  light 
beams  afar  on  the  nations.  Yet  how  will  he  feel  in  these 
circumstances  ?  Will  he  feel  that  this  is  to  be  traced  to  his 
own  merit,  or  that  the  wealth  or  honour  which  may  gather 
around  him  are  the  measure  of  his  desert  ?  But  for  you  he 
will  feel  that  he  would  even  now  have  been  occupying  that 
wretched  hovel,  or  more  likely  would  have  been  in  the 
drunkard's  grave.  Whatever  he  has  of  moral  worth,  in- 
fluence, or  reputation  is  to  be  traced  to  you.  Thus  it  is 
with  the  Christian ;  and  feeling  this,  he  cannot  regard  him- 
self as  so  profitable  to  God  as  to  merit  the  rewards  of  heaven. 
(3.)  If  it  were  conceded  that  the  rewards  of  heaven  were 
a  proper  recompense  for  the  religious  services  which  man 
can  render  to  God,  yet  they  would  not  be  the  suitable  re- 
ward of  those  who  are  commonly  expecting  heaven  on  the 
ground  of  their  own  merits.  The  truly  religious  man,  as  we 
have  seen,  expects  heaven,  not  on  the  ground  of  his  own 
deserts,  but  through  the  grace  of  God.  We  may,  therefore, 
lay  the  case  of  such  out  of  the  question  in  the  inquiry  whe- 
ther men  can  deserve  salvation  by  their  own  merits.  The 
other  class,  embracing  the  mass  of  mankind,  expect  to  be 
saved  because  they  deserve  to  be  saved;  or,  which  amounts 
to  the  same  thing,  because  they  do  not  deserve  to  be  damned. 
The  ground  of  their  claim  is  not  that  they  are  religious, — 

for  they  do  not  profess  to  be,  and  not  that  they  render  such 

5* 


54  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD  7 

service  to  the  cause  of  God  that  the  rewards  of  heaven  would 
be  an  equivalent  for  their  services — for  they  do  not  profess 
to  be  engaged  in  his  service  at  all.  What  then  is  it  ?  It 
is  that  they  are  honest,  true,  faithful  to  their  contracts, 
honourable  in  their  dealings,  disposed  to  aid  others  in  their 
distress,  and  courteous  in  their  treatment  of  their  fellow- 
men.  One  who  leads  such  a  life  they  suppose  does  not 
deserve  to  be  cast  off  and  made  miserable  forever ;  or,  what  is 
the  same  thing,  they  suppose  that  in  all  justice  and*equity, 
he  ought  to  be  made  happy  in  a  future  state ;  that  is,  that  he 
may  be  saved  on  the  ground  of  his  own  merits.  What  is 
now  the  value  of  this  claim  ?  With  the  principles  before  us 
which  have  been  laid  down,  let  us  endeavour  to  answer  this 
question.  This  is  the  inquiry,  Is  heaven  the  appropriate  re- 
ward of  such  a  life  ?  An  illustration  or  two  will  make  this 
plainer  than  abstract  reasoning  would  do.  You  hire  a  man 
as  a  day-labourer.  He  comes  to  you  at  night  for  his  pay. 
If  he  has  been  industrious  according  to  the  contract,  and 
faithful  to  your  interests,  the  case  is  a  plain  one,  and  you  do 
not  hesitate.  But  you  put  the  interrogatory  to  him,  "  Bid 
you  go  into  my  vineyard,  and  spend  the  day  in  cultivating 
it  for  me,  and  in  a  careful  regard  to  my  interests  ?"  "  No/' 
is  the  honest  reply,  "but  I  have  spent  the  day  diligently;  I 
have  not  been  an  idle  man.  I  have  attended  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  my  own  vineyard,  and  been  faithful  to  my  family, 
and  I  may  appeal  to  all  my  neighbours  for  my  general 
courtesy  and  honesty  of  life."  If  you  now  say  that  this  is 
a  case  which  is  so  palpably  absurd  that  it  never  could  occur, 
it  may  be  replied  that  it  has  been  made  absurd  on  purpose. 
Such  a  man  would  be  only  speaking  out,  in  the  honesty  of 
his  heart,  what  is  the  secret  claim  of  every  one  who  is  not 
enga,ged  in  the  service  of  God,  and  who  yet  feels  that  he 
ought  to  be  saved.  He  does  not  even  profess  to  be  attend- 
ing to  the  interests  of  his  Creator  or  engaged  in  his  service. 
You  send  a  clerk  into  the  Western  States  to  collect  your 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      55 

debts.  He  returns.  "  Have  you  been  diligent  and  success- 
ful in  the  duty  assigned  you  ?"  "  I  was  diligent.  I  tra- 
velled much.  In  all  my  journey  I  injured  no  one ;  I  treated 
no  one  roughly ;  I  addressed  no  one  in  any  other  manner 
than  in  the  language  required  in  refined  life.  I  also  entered 
valuable  lands  for  myself,  and  have  a  prospect  of  rising  to 
affluence  and  respectability."  "  But  what  has  this  to  do 
with  the  reward  which  would  be  appropriate  for  one  em- 
ployed in  my  service  ?"  (e  Nothing,"  a  child  would  reply. 
But  has  it  not  just  as  much  to  do  with  it  as  the  claim  of  a 
man  who  does  not  profess  to  serve  his  Maker,  and  who  lives 
only  to  regard  his  own  interests,  has  to  the  rewards  of  hea- 
ven ?  You  have  a  servant  or  an  apprentice  whom  you  have 
a  right  to  punish  if  he  does  wrong.  You  enjoin  on  him  a 
specific  duty,  a  duty  of  much  importance  to  yourself,  and 
one  that  is  clearly  reasonable  in  its  nature.  At  the  proper 
time  you  call  him  to  an  account.  The  duty  is  not  dis- 
charged; the  service  is  not  rendered.  He  pleads,  however, 
that  he  does  not  deserve  punishment.  He  has-  been  steadily 
engaged  all  the  while ;  he  has  been  entirely  honest  and  up- 
right in  his  dealings  with  his  fellow-servants ;  he  has  treated 
them  with  perfect  courtesy,  and  has  even  acquired  an  envia- 
ble reputation  for  amiableness  of  manners ;  nay,  he  has  more 
than  once  relieved  a  fellow-servant  that  was  poor,  and  sick, 
and  dying.  All  this  is  very  well,  it  would  be  said  in  reply ; 
but  how  can  this  constitute  a  claim  for  the  specific  reward 
which  was  offered?  How  can  it  show  that  he  who  has 
wholly  omitted  a  known  and  specific  duty  does  not  deserve 
the  punishment  which  was  threatened?  With  what  face 
could  such  a  servant  claim  the  reward  due  to  faithful  service 
in  the  cause  of  his  master  ?  These  plain  and  obvious  prin- 
ciples are  as  applicable  to  religion  as  they  are  to  the  common 
transactions  of  life.  God  requires  of  us  a  specific  service 
It  is  not  general  and  indefinite,  or  left  to  our  choice  as  to 
what  it  shall  be.  It  is  that  we  shall  serve  him;  that  we 


56  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  TyiTH  GOD? 


shall  obey  his  commands;  that  we  shall  seek  his  glory;  that 
we  shall  love  him,  honour  him,  and  treat  him  as  our  God  ; 
that  we  shall  be  penitent  for  our  past  sins,  and  be  willing 
to  accept  his  favour  on  his  own  terms;  that  we  shall  be 
serious,  religious,  prayerful,  believing,  holy.  If  this  is 
done,  he  promises  heaven.  But  it  is  not  done.  Those  now 
referred  to  do  not  even  lay  claim  to  any  of  these  things. 
One  of  the  last  things  that  they  would  claim,  or  that  their 
friends  would  think  of  claiming  for  them,  is  that  they  are 
religious,  or  that  they  act  habitually  from  reference  to  the 
will  of  their  Creator.  They  claim  to  be  moral,  honest,  true, 
urbane,  kind,  but  how  can  this  lay  the  foundation  of  a  claim 
to  the  appropriate  reward  of  piety  ?  How,  in  these  things, 
can  they  render  any  service  to  God,  when  they  do  not  even 
intend  it,  which  would  be  the  proper  basis  of  his  rewarding 
them  in  heaven?  No  more  than  the  day  labourer,  the 
clerk,  and  the  servant  carefully  attentive  to  their  own 
interests,  but  wholly  regardless  of  the  interests  of  their  em- 
ployers, can  expect  a  reward. 

Having  thus  stated  these  arguments,  to  show  that  man 
cannot  by  any  services  which  he  can  render,  make  himself 
so  profitable  to  God  as  to  merit  salvation,  or  be  of  so  much 
advantage  to  his  cause  as  to  be  an  equivalent  for  the  reward 
of  heaven,  it  remains  only  to  remark, 

(4.)  Fourthly,  that,  if  he  cannot  do  this  by  a  life  of  obe- 
dient holiness,  he  cannot  by  any  offering  which  he  has  it  in 
his  power  to  make.  The  reasons  for  this  are  so  obvious  as 
to  make  it  needless  to  dwell  on  them.  One  is,  that  no 
offering  which  man  can  make,  can  be  of  any  advantage  or 
profit  to  God.  He  is  made  no  richer  by  any  oblation  of 
silver  and  gold  which  we  can  bring  him  ;  he  has  no  unsat- 
isfied wants  which  can  be  supplied  by  our  ministrations. 
"  If  I  were  hungry/'  says  he,  "  I  would  not  tell  thee  ;  for  the 
world  is  mine  and  the  fullness  thereof.  Will  I  eat  the  flesh 
of  bulls  or  drink  the  blood  of  goats  ?"  Ps.  iv.  12,  13.  An- 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE  JUST   WITH   GOD?  57 

other  reason  is,  that  all  that  we  possess  is-  his,  and  we  can 
give  to  him  nothing  to  which  he  has  not  already  a  prior  and 
supreme  right.  "  Every  beast  of  the  forest/'  says  he,  "  is 
mine,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.  I  know  all  the 
fowls  of  the  mountains,  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest  are 
mine."  Ps.  1.  10,  11.  Another  reason  is,  that  nothing  that 
we  could  offer  would  be  a  compensation  for  our  past  offences, 
or  repair  the  evils  which  we  have  done  by  our  neglect  of 
duty  and  by  our  open  sins.  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come  be- 
fore the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the  High  God  ?  Shall 
I  come  before  him  with  burnt-offerings,  with  calves  of  a 
year  old?  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of 
rams,  or  with  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?  Shall  I  give 
my  first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for 
the  sin  of  my  soul?"  Micah  vi.  6,  7.  And  how  shall  a 
man  profit  God ;  how  lay  him  under  obligation  to  save  him ; 
how  render  such  service  as  to  be  an  equivalent  for  heaven  ? 
Shall  he  flagellate  his  own  body  ?  Yet  how  will  that  profit 
God?  Shall  he  gird  sackcloth  on  his  loins,  or  wear  an 
irritating  haircloth  garment  to  torment  himself?  Yet  how 
will  that  benefit  his  Maker  ?  Will  he  go  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  some  distant  shrine  ?  How  will  his  Maker  be  advantaged 
by  that  ?  Will  he  shut  himself  up  in  a  gloomy  cell,  and 
withdraw  from  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and  the 
stars,  and  from  the  society  of  living  men,  and  doom  himself 
to  wretchedness  and  wo  ?  But  will  his  God  be  made  more 
rich,  or  happy  by  such  austerities  ?  Will  he  seize  upon  the 
objects  dearest  to  his  heart,  and  destroy  before  bloody  altars 
the  lives  which  his  Creator  has  given  ?  But  will  it  profit 
God  if  we  kill  his  own  creatures,  and  pour  out  their  blood 
before  him  ?  If  none  of  these  things  will  do,  with  what 
plea  of  merit  can  we  come  before  him  ?  How  can  we  render 
such  service  as  to  have  a  claim  on  heaven  ? 

In  view  of  this  train  of  thought,  two  additional  observa- 
tions may  be  made. 


58  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  ]WITH   GOD  ? 

1.  First,  we  see  the  falsehood  of  that  system  of  religion 
which  speaks  of  human  merit;  of  the  treasured  and  garnered 
merits  of  the  saints  of  former  times.     If  the  principles  now 
suggested  are  correct,  how  can  there  have  been  any  such  ex- 
traordinary and  superabounding  merit  in  past  times  that  it 
may  be  available  now  for  men  ?     If  there  were  such  trea- 
sured merit  left  by  the  saints  of  other  days,  it  might  still  be 
a  question  what  claim  of  right  any  man  has  now  to  distri- 
bute it  to  others;  but  any  such  claim  of  superabounding 
merit  is  alike  at  variance  with  the  Bible,  and  with  every 
just  principle  of  reason.     Yet  this  doctrine  is  one  of  the 
principal  supports  of  the  papacy,  and  is  one  of  the  dogmas 
that  come  to  our  shores  and  demand  credence  in  our  land, 
and  of  this  generation.     It  will  be  shown  hereafter,  that 
there  is  ample  merit  in  him  who  died  to  atone  for  our  sins, 
to  supply  all  our  deficiencies,  and  the  results  of  which  may 
be  ours.     The  claim  that  superabounding  merit  has  been 
wrought  out  by  the  saints,  derogates  and  almost  annihilates 
this ;  and  the  claim  that  his  merits  and  theirs  are  lodged  in 
human  hands  to  be  dispensed  or  withheld  at  pleasure  by  a 
priesthood,  is  one  of  the  principal  supports  of  the  most  ap- 
palling and  terrific  system  of  spiritual  despotism  that  has 
ever  tyrannized  over  man.     Thanks  to  him  who  has  bought 
us  our  portion,  the  disposal  of  the  merits  of  his  sacrifice  is 
committed  to  no  human  hands,  and  can  be  interrupted  by 
no  human  power ! 

2.  This  subject  is  one  of  direct  practical  interest  to  all. 
If  we  are,  ever  saved,  there  will  be  a  good  reason  for  it — for 
nothing  is   merely  arbitrary   in   the   matter   of  salvation. 
There  are  but  two  ways  possible  of  being  saved — the  one  by 
our  own  merits,  the  other  by  the  merits  of  another.     If  in 
regard  to  the  latter  there  are  no  merits  of  the  "  saints"  on 
which  we  can  rely ;  no  merits  of  parents  or  pious  friends 
of  which  we  can  avail  ourselves,  then  the  merits  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  constitute  the  only  foreign  dependence  which  we  can 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      59 

have.  The  whole  question  is  then  just  this.  Do  we  rely 
on  our  own  merits  for  salvation,  or  the  merits  of  Jesus  ? 
Here  the  world  is  divided — the  Christian  on  the  one  side ; 
the  pagan,  the  Mohammedan,  the  infidel,  the  moralist  on  the 
other.  This  single  question  separates  the  inhabitants  of  the 
globe  into  two  great  parties  never  to  be  united.  But  if  the 
principles  above  suggested  are  correct,  it  may  be  put  to 
every  man — to  his  reason,  his  conscience,  his  heart,  whether 
he  has  any  merit  on  which  he  can  rely  as  a  ground  of  salva- 
tion ?  Has  he  done  any  thing  for  which  the  equivalent  is 
to  be  found  in  the  rewards  of  an  eternal  heaven  ?  Has  he 
so  deserved  the  rewards  of  life,  has  he  rendered  such  services 
to  his  Maker  that  he  can  stand  at  the  final  bar,  where  we 
all  must  soon  stand,  and  claim  an  admission  to  heaven? 
Can  he  demand  it  as  a  right  that  heaven's  portal  should  be 
thrown  open  to  him,  and  he  be  welcomed  there  ?  If  so,  on 
what  ground  ?  What  is  the  basis  of  the  claim  ?  Religion  ? 
The  unconverted  sinner  makes  no  pretension  to  it.  Re- 
pentance ?  He  has  never  shed  a  tear  over  his  sins.  The 
love  of  God?  He  has  no  spark  of  love  to  that  glorious 
Being  in  his  heart.  Sacrifices  in  his  service  ?  He  has 
made  none.  An  honest  endeavour  to  do  his  will  ?  He  has 
never  made  this  the  rule  of  life.  What  is  the  service  which 
he  has  rendered  ?  What  has  been  the  life  which  he  has 
led  ?  What  is  the  state  of  his  account  with  God  ?  What 
is  the  condition  of  his  heart  ?  0,  let  him  look  at  the  broken 
law  of  God,  his  violated  Sabbaths,  his  rejected  gospel,  his 
grieved  Spirit,  his  neglected  word;  let  him  look  at  his  own 
life  of  thoughtlessness,  selfishness,  and  vanity;  his  neglect 
of  prayer,  his  pride  and  opposition  to  God ;  let  him  look  at 
the  sins  of  childhood  and  the  worldliness  and  wickedness  of 
riper  years;  let  him  look  at  the  times  when  God  has  called 
and  he  has  refused,  when  the  Saviour  has  stretched  out  his 
hands  and  he  would  not  regard  it ;  let  him  look  at  his  broken 
vows  and  promises,  the  times  when  he  promised  that  he 


60  HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  JWITH  GOD  ? 

would  be  a  Christian  if  he  reached  a  certain  period  of  life, 
the  solemn  covenant  which  he  made  when  he  was  sick,  that 
if  God  would  spare  him  he  would  be  his ;  let  him  look  at 
these  things  and  then  see  whether  he  has  a  claim  to  an  ad- 
mission to  heaven,  and  whether  he  can  be  received  there 
because  he  has  been  profitable  to  God. 

Y.    What  is  meant  by  the  merits  of  Christ  ? 

There  are  few  phrases  in  more  common  use  than  the 
merits  of  Christ ;  few  declarations  that  are  repeated  more 
frequently  by  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  others,  than  that 
man  can  be  saved  only  by  His  merits ;  and  few  things  that 
are  more  frequently  uttered  in  prayer  than  that  we  plead 
His  merits  only  for  our  salvation.  The  frequency  with 
which  this  expression  occurs,  and  the  bearing  which  it  has 
on  the  general  subject  now  under  consideration,  make  it 
proper  that  we  should  attempt  an  explanation  of  it.  Com- 
mon as  the  use  of  it  is,  a  formal  attempt  to  explain  it  is  not 
often  made,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  is  often  used  with- 
out an  intelligent  apprehension  of  its  meaning. 

The  phrase  does  not  occur  in  the  Bible ;  but  the  idea 
which  is  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  it  exists  there  as  a 
vital  and  central  thought  in  the  whole  plan  of  justification 
by  faith.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  subject  it  will  be 
proper, 

1.  To  explain  what  is  meant  when  we  speak  of  the  merits 
of  Christ;  and 

2.  To  show  in  what  his  merits  consisted. 

1.  What  is  meant  by  the  merits  of  Christ  ? 

The  general  idea  is  expressed  in  the  passage — John  i.  16 : 
"  and  of  his  fulness  have  we  all  received,  and  grace  for 
for  grace."  There  was  an  "abundance"  or  "fulness"  in 
him  of  which  we  might  partake ;  that  is,  there  was  a  com- 
pleteness— 7drjpa>jj.a — which,  in  our  conscious  want  or  defi- 
ciency, could  meet  all  our  necessities,  so  that  we  could  re- 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      61 

ceive  "  grace"  corresponding  with  that  which  was  in  him. 
When  we  speak  of  the  merits  of  Christ  in  connection  with 
our  salvation,  it  is  meant  that  there  was  an  amount  of  merit 
in  his  services  which  he  did  not  need  for  any  personal  ad- 
vantage or  for  himself;  which  had  been  secured  with  a 
special  purpose  to  supply  the  great  and  undisputed  defi- 
ciency of  man,  and  which  can  be  made  available  to  us  on 
certain  conditions,  and  in  the  way  which  God  has  revealed 
as  the  ground  of  our  acceptance.  The  main  object  is  not 
now  to  prove  that  there  are  such  merits  treasured  up  in 
Christ,  but  to.  explain  the  language.  Whether  the  doctrine 
be  true,  and  if  there  be  such  merit  in  him,  how  it  may  be 
available  to  us,  will  be  the  subject  of  future  inquiry.  In 
the  explanation  of  the  subject  we  may  then  advert  to, 

(1.)  The  doctrine  respecting  merit  laid  down  in  the 
last  section.  A  man  merits  a  reward  when  he  has  earned 
or  deserved  it;  when  he  has  fully  complied  with  the 
terms  of  the  bargain ;  when  his  services  are  worth  as  much 
to  you  as  you  pay  him.  We  may  recall  the  illustrations 
from  the  day-labourer,  the  soldier,  the  physician,  in  each  of 
which  cases  it  was  said  that  the  service  rendered  was  fully 
equal  in  value  to  the  pay  which  was  given.  The  service 
measures  the  pay ;  the  one  is  equal,  or  is  supposed  to  be,  to 
the  other.  To  withhold  the  compensation  is  injustice,  or 
is  palpably  wrong.  This  is  the  ordinary  and  proper  sense 
in  which  the  word  merit  is  used  among  men,  and  it  was  in 
this  sense  that  we  endeavoured  to  show  that  man  cannot 
merit  salvation.  We  observe, 

(2.)  That  cases  may  arise  where  much  more  may  be  done 
for  you  than  one  who  is  in  your  employ  is  strictly  bound  to 
perform.  A  reference  to  some  of  these  cases  will  enable  us 
to  explain  the  subject  before  us. 

(a)  You  have  a  man  in  your  employ  engaged  under  the 
ordinary  condition  of  service  as  a  labourer  or  clerk.  With- 
out any  special  agreement  with  him,  or  without  any  thing 


62      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUS*  WITH  GOD? 

being  said  about  it  in  your  contract,  he  is  to  do  what  is 
commonly  understood  to  be  required  in  that  condition  of 
life ;  what  is  usually  done  by  those  in  the  same  employ- 
ment. He  is  to  be  at  his  post  at  a  certain  hour  in  the 
morning,  and  to  remain  until  a  certain  hour  in  the  evening, 
and  is  to  be  faithful  to  his  employer's  interest,  and  diligent 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  business  entrusted  to  him.  On 
these  conditions,  without  any  thing  more  specific,  the  con- 
tract is  usually  made  with  clerks,  and  book-keepers,  and 
day-labourers,  and  journeymen-mechanics,  and  lawyers  and 
ministers  of  the  gospel.  It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  be 
any  more  specific  than  that  they  shall  be  faithful  to  the 
interests  of  their  employers,  and  render  the  amount  of  ser- 
vice which  is  usually  expected  in  that  occupation.  But  it 
is  very  possible  to  conceive  that  one  may  go  much  beyond 
that.  He  may  be  engaged  at  a  much  earlier  hour  than  is 
usual,  and  may  prolong  his  toils  far  into  the  shades  of  night. 
He  may  evince  uncommon  tact  and  sagacity  in  the  manage- 
ment of  affairs  entrusted  to  him,  and  such  may  be  his  skill 
and  success  that  his  services  may  have  a  value  far  beyond 
any  thing  which  you  had  anticipated  in  the  contract.  You 
would  not  feel  yourself  at  liberty  to  turn  him  off,  or  to  com- 
plain if  he  had  not  done  this ;  will  not  feel  that  he  has  a  legal 
claim  on  you  for  any  thing  more  than  you  promised  to  pay 
him,  for  you  did  not  contract  with  him  for  this  special  ser- 
vice ;  but  you  will  be  likely  to  feel  that  he  has  a  claim  of 
honour  on  you;  and  if,  when  he  leaves  your  service,  you 
know  of  any  situation  of  special  advantage  that  can  be  ob- 
tained, you  would  feel  yourself  under  a  sort  of  moral  obli- 
gation to  endeavour  to  secure  it  for  him.  Here  is  some- 
thing merited  beyond  what  he  was  bound  to  do. 

(6)  A  second  case.  A  man  in  your  employ  may  be 
placed  in  circumstances  where  he  may  havje  an  opportunity 
of  doing  something  for  your  special  advantage,  though  of  a 
nature  which  was  not  distinctly  specified  in  your  contract 


HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  63 

with  him.  He  may  have  great  sagacity,  and  may  watch 
the  changes  and  chances  in  the  market,  and  enable  you  to 
make  important  and  advantageous  purchases;  he  may  be  in 
possession  of  intelligence  respecting  coming  changes  in  the 
markets  which  may  be  of  great  service  to  you ;  or  he  may, 
by  uncommon  tact  in  business,  be  enabled  to  save  you  from 
inextricable  bankruptcy.  Now,  if  he  is  a  mere  book-keeper, 
or  salesman,  you  could  hardly  claim,  as  a  matter  of  right, 
that  he  should  bring  his  sagacity  in  these  things  into  your 
service;  perhaps  you  would  hardly  blame  him  if  he  took 
advantage  of  it  to  advance  his  own  interests,  provided  he 
did  not  injure  you.  His  specific  business  is  to  keep  your 
books  correctly,  or  to  sell  your  goods  in  the  manner  in  which 
you  shall  direct  him,  and  his  sagacity  and  tact  in  these  de- 
partments you  have  a  right  to  require  to  be  employed  in 
your  service.  But  your  contract  and  your  claim  extend  no 
farther.  Yet,  if  he  chooses  to  go  beyond  this,  and  actually, 
while  he  incurs  no  possible  risks,  is  the  means  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  you,  an  honourable  man  would  feel  that  he  de- 
served an  appropriate  acknowledgment.  Many  instances  of 
this  kind  might  be  referred  to ;  but  these  will  illustrate  the 
point  under  consideration. 

(3.)  It  is  necessary  to  make  but  one  other  remark,  in 
order  to  see  the  bearing  of  these  illustrations  on  the  case 
before  us.  Reference  has  been  made  to  abounding  merit; 
to  cases  in  which  service  is  rendered  beyond  what  was  in  the 
contract ;  to  that  which  was  wholly  voluntary,  and  yet  where 
there  would  be  a  claim  in  honour,  at  least,  for  a  suitable 
acknowledgment,  or  where  an  honourable  man  would  feel 
himself  under  obligation  to  bestow  a  reward.  The  remark 
which  is  now  to  be  made,  is  that  he  who  has  this  extra 
claim  on  you  may  do  what  he  pleases  with  the  reward  which 
you  may  feel  willing  to  give.  It  may  not  be  needful  for 
him,  or  he  may  not  choose  to  make  use  of  it  for  himself, 
but  he  may  be  disposed  to  make  another  use  of  it,  which 


64      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST j WITH  GOD? 

•will  develop  some  trait  of  mind  that  will  by  no  means  di- 
minish your  respect  for  his  character.  Suppose  some  such 
cases  as  the  following  in  the  application  of  the  instances  re- 
ferred to  :  that  he  should  ask  you  to  aid  a  younger  brother 
of  his  that  was  just  beginning  business,  and  who  was 
greatly  in  need  of  credit ;  or  that,  on  the  supposition  that  he 
should  die,  you  would  show  kindness  to  an  aged  father  or 
mother ;  or  that  you  should  appropriate  the  gratuity  which 
you  designed  for  him  to  some  young  man  who  was  strug- 
gling to  obtain  an  education.  Or,  suppose  that  the  faithful 
servant  should  ask  you  to  release  from  bondage  his  wife  or 
child,  in  consideration  of  the  extra  and  quite  equivalent 
services  which  he  had  rendered  to  you.  Or,  to  take  another 
case,  suppose  a  friend  of  his  had,  in  an  unhappy  moment, 
defrauded  you,  might  he  not  ask  you  to  "  set  that  to  his 
account  ?"  In  either  case,  would  you  not  feel  that  what  he 
asked  he  had  a  right  to  ask  ?  And  would  you  not  be  the 
more  deeply  affected  with  respect  for  his  character  by  this 
request  ?  He  did  not  perform  the  extra  service  for  reward. 
He  did  not  expect  it.  He  did  not  mention  it  to  you.  He 
did  not  claim  any  reward.  But  when  you  felt  that  he  had 
a  claim  to  it,  and  pressed  it  upon  him,  and  would  not  be 
refused,  he  looked  not  for  gorgeous  or  gay  apparel  for  him- 
self, or  for  a  purse  of  gold,  or  a  splendid  house ;  nor  did  he 
ask  you  to  trumpet  his  fame  ;  but  he  looked  round  on  those 
struggling  with  poverty,  crushed  and  enfeebled  by  age, 
bound  in.  affliction  and  iron,  or  burdened  with  debts,  which 
they  could  never  discharge,  and  asked  you  to  forget  him 
and  to  remember  them.  The  developments  of  such  a  cha- 
racter would  fill  your  mind  with  new  conceptions  of  its 
beauty,  and  your  heart  would  be  insensibly  knit  with  his. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  these  illustrations  bear  on  the 
explanation  of  what  is  meant  by  the  merits  of  Christ.  His 
merit  was  of  this  extraordinary  or  superabundant  kind.  It 
was  beyond  what  could  have  been  demanded  of  him,  and 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  65 

was  such  that  if  he  chose  to  ask  it,  or  so  designed  it,  it 
could  be  made  available  to  others.  This  leads  us  to 

2.  The  inquiry,  in  what  his  merits  consisted. .  Keep- 
ing the  remarks  already  made  in  view,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  show  that  all  that  he  did  when  on  earth  was  of 
this  extraordinary  character ;  that  he  rendered  real  service 
to  the  universe- for  which  the  rewards  given  him  will  be  no 
more  than  equivalent ;  and  that  his  merits  were  of  such  a 
nature  that  they  may  be  made  available  to  others. 

(1.)  All  that  he  did  was  of  an  extraordinary  character, 
or  was  service  which  could  not  have  been  demanded  of  him. 
This  remark  is  based  on  the  fact  that  he  was  divine,  and  has 
no  pertinency  except  on  that  supposition.  When  it  is  said 
that  his  service,  or  work,  was  such  as  could  not  be  demanded, 
it  is  meant  that  there  was  no  law  or  obligation  which  could 
bind  the  Divinity  to  become  incarnate,  to  be  an  humble 
teacher  of  mankind,  to  minister  to  their  wants  with  his  own 
hands,  or  to  make  an  atonement  for  their  transgressions. 
The  entire  transaction  was  of  a  kind  which  could  be  enforced 
by  no  law.  If  He  be  equal  to  the  Father  and  one  with  him, 
he  was  under  no  law  but  the  infinite  and  eternal  law  of  his 
own  divine  nature.  There  was  no  obligation  on  him  to  be- 
come a  man,  a  priest,  a  sacrifice ;  to  toil,  to  weep,  to  die. 

Another  illustration  may  be  introduced  here.  There  is 
an  heir  apparent  to  a  crown.  Every  consideration  of  pro- 
priety, and  perhaps  a  statute  law  of  the  realm,  require  him 
to  perform  the  duties  of  a  son  in  the  palace,  and  to  appear 
and  act  on  all  occasions  as  becomes  the  first  man  in  the 
realm  next  to  the  throne.  But  there  is  no  law  which  re- 
quires him  to  become  a  day-labourer,  or  a  menial,  or  that 
makes  it  his  duty  to  go  into  some  peasant's  cottage  and  watch 
the  long  night  by  the  cradle  of  a  dying  child.  There  may  be, 
perhaps,  no  law  against  it  if  he  chooses  to  do  it ;  but  it  cannot 
be  demanded  of  him.  The  Son  of  God  in  heaven  would 

appear  there  always  in  a  manner  appropriate  to  his  une- 

6* 


66  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 


quailed  relation  to  the  Father;  but  what  law  was  there 
requiring  him  to  come  down  to  earth,  to  be  a  man  of  sor- 
rows, to  take  part  in  our  sadnesses  and  woes  and  to  die  ? 
If  he  did  this,  the  service  was  altogether  of  an  extraordi- 
nary character,  and  was  entirely  a  work  of  merit.  This 
remark  is  obvious.  Its  bearings,  if  conceded  to  be  true, 
are  of  great  importance.  The  force  and  pertinence  of  this 
illustration,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  proceeds  on  the 
supposition  that  he  is  divine.  If  he  is  not,  however  ex- 
alted as  a  created  being  he  may  be,  it  does  not  appear  how 
he  could  have  any  extra  merit,  and  consequently  how  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  his  righteousness  could  be  held. 
If  he  is  a  mere  man,  or  an  angel,  or  an  archangel,  or  crea- 
ture of  any  rank,  no  such  extraordinary  service  could  be 
rendered  —  none  could  be  made  available  to  us. 

We  have  seen  that  man  may  acquire  extra  merit  from  his 
fellow-man,  merit  which  may  be  made  available  to  others. 
The  question  is,  why  a  creature  may  not  do  this  in  reference 
to  the  service  of  God  ;  and  why,  if  the  Saviour  were  less 
than  divine,  he  might  not  do  the  same  thing  for  us  ?  The 
answer  to  this  question  is  obvious.  When  you  employ  a 
man,  you  contract  for  a  certain  amount  of  service  or  of 
time.  You  do  not  contract  for  all  that  he  has.  You  con- 
tract for  what  is  usual,  or  what  you  specify.  All  beyond 
the  limits  of  that  contract  remains  his.  But  there  is  no 
such  contract,  understanding  or  stipulation,  express  or  un- 
derstood, between  a  creature  and  God.  All  his  powers,  his 
time,  his  talents,  his  service,  his  skill,  his  learning,  his  in- 
fluence, belong  to  his  Maker.  Of  every  creature,  he  de- 
mands "  all  the  heart,  the  mind,  the  might,  the  strength/' 
There  is  not  a  moment  of  time  in  which  a  creature  can  feel 
that  he  is  released  from  the  claim  of  his  Maker  ;  there  is  not  a 
power  or  faculty  of  mind  or  body  which  he  possesses,  that  is 
beyond  the  range  of  the  demand  of  His  law;  there  is  not  a 
service  of  prayer,  or  praise,  or  sacrifice,  which  he  could  render 


HOW    SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  67 

which  is  beyond  the  limits  of  his  duty ;  there  is  not  an  act 
of  benevolence  to  the  poor,  the  needy,  the  sinful,  or  the 
dying,  he  can  perform,  which  he  can  feel  is  beyond  the 
all-comprehensive  grasp  of  the  divine  command  to  do 
good.  Can  a  creature  of  the  Almighty  put  himself  into 
the  midst  of  a  service  acceptable  to  God  which  he  will  feel 
was  not  required  of  him  ?  Can  he  love  with  an  ardour 
beyond  what  God  requires  ?  Can  he  maintain  a  degree  of 
fidelity  in  temptation  beyond  what  is  demanded  ?  Can  he 
stoop  to  some  scene  of  wo,  and  do  good  to  a  sufferer  in  a 
way  which  the  law  which  binds  him  to  God  did  not  make 
his  duty?  Can  he  evince  compassion  for  the  sinful  and 
the  sad  beyond  what  the  law  of  his  nature  and  the  com- 
mandment of  his  Maker  demands  ?  If  he  cannot,  how  can 
there  be  such  extra  merit  that  it  can  be  made  available  to 
others  ?  And  if  the  Lord  Jesus  were  a  mere  man,  as  one 
class  of  Socinians  tells  us ;  or  an  angel  of  exalted  rank,  as 
another  class  assures  us ;  or  the  highest  created  intelli- 
gence, as  the  Arian  affirms,  how  could  he  have  wrought  out 
any  merit  which  could  be  available  to  us  ?  How  could  he 
have  done  any  thing  beyond  what  he  was  bound  as  a  crea- 
ture to  do  ?  How  could  he  so  step  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  divine  law,  as  by  abounding  merit,  to  save  a  world.  It 
is  difficult  to  see,  therefore,  how  he  who  denies  the  divinity 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  can  hold  to  the  doctrine  of  a  meritorious 
sacrifice  on  his  part,  or  to  the  doctrine  of  justification 
through  his  merits  at  all ;  and  there  is  a  melancholy  con- 
sistency in  the  philosophy  and  practical  faith  of  those  who 
deny  his  divinity,  in  yielding  up  the  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment, and  then  the  whole  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
But  admit  that  he  is  God,  equal  with  the  Father,  and  all  is 
clear.  Then,  being  under  no  obligations  to  become  incar- 
nate, being  bound  by  no  law  to  leave  the  throne  of  heaven 
and  seek  a  home  in  a  manger,  a  lodging  place  without  a 
pillow,  a  death  on  a  cross,  and  a  burial  in  the  grave  des- 


68  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST   fVTTH  GOD? 

tined  for  another,  all  this  is  the  work  of  extra  merit,  and 
may  all  be  available  for  others.  We  see  him  in  our  world, 
not  as  a  mere  man,  and  thus  bound  by  law  to  render  every 
service  to  the  cause  of  God,  but  as  Immanuel — God  with 
us — the  voluntary  messenger  from  heaven — the  equal  with 
God,  performing  a  service  to  which  no  law  bound  him,  and 
to  which  no  other  powers  were  adequate,  and  which  there- 
fore may  constitute  a  fulness  of  merit  which  may  be  avail- 
able for  those  who  have  none. 

(2.)  The  second  remark  is,  that  he  rendered  real  service 
to  the  universe  by  his  work.  His  coming,  his  teaching,  his 
death,  his  resurrection,  were  an  advantage  to  the  cause  of 
God  and  of  virtue,  to  the  full  extent  of  the  reward  which  he 
will  receive.  The  universe  has  been  so  much  profited  by 
his  voluntary  and  wonderful  service  in  the  cause  of  virtue 
and  salvation,  that  there  is  a  propriety  that  he  should  be 
rewarded  for  it,  and  the  reward  which  he  will  receive  is  no 
more  than  an  equivalent  for  the  value  of  the  service  ren- 
dered. It  will  be  asked,  What  has  been  the  advantage  of 
his  work  to  the  universe  ?  In  what  way  is  it  to  be  mea- 
sured or  estimated?  It  may  be  replied,  We  do  not  know 
fully  yet,  nor  are  our  minds  in  a  condition  now,  if  they  will 
ever  be,  to  estimate  what  is  appropriate  to  "  satisfy"  him  for 
the  "  travail  of  his  soul."  But  the  general  answer,  whoever 
can  appreciate  its  meaning,  will  be  that  the  value  or  worth 
of  his  voluntary  services  is  to  be  estimated  by  all  the  evils 
which  his  coming  has  arrested  or  prevented,  and  l>y  all 
the  happiness  in  this  world  and  in  heaven  of  which  it  has 
been  the  cause.  If  we  could  ascertain  this,  we  could  esti- 
mate the  extent  of  his  services  to  the  universe,  and  of 
course  the  reward  which  is  due  him,  or  the  amount  of 
his  merit.  No  attempt  can  be  made  by  us  to  gauge  the 
amount  of  this  merit.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  submit  a 
few  hints  to  illustrate  the  real  nature  of  the  service  which 
he  rendered. 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      69 

(a)  He  did  voluntary  good  through  his  life.  He  healed 
the  sick ;  gave  sight  to  the  blind ;  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and 
vigour  to  the  lame;  he  restored  the  maniac  to  his  right 
mind,  and  brought  back  the  poor  outcast  who  "  dwelt  among 
the  tombs"  to  the  comforts  of  home.  All  this  was  doing 
good  to  the  world,  which  if  he  had  not  come  would  not  have 
been  done. 

(6)  He  set  a  most  holy  example  of  virtue  to  mankind. 
He  showed  what  true  virtue  is ;  how  man  should  live,  and 
how  he  should  meet  the  temptations  of  the  great  enemy  of 
the  soul.  All  this  is  so  much  gained  to  the  cause  of  virtue, 
above  what  would  have  been  if  he  had  not  come — and  the 
value  of  having  one  perfect  example  in  a  world  where  there 
had  been  no  such  standard,  and  amidst  the  conflicting 
opinions  of  men  on  the  subject  of  morals,  cannot  be  esti- 
mated. 

(c)  He  taught  man  by  his  example  how  to  bear  trials. 
He  himself  went  through  all  the  usual  forms  of  wo  and 
grief,  and  showed  in  each  one  of  them,  how  man  ought  to 
endure  calamities,  and  how  in  them  consolation  might  be 
found.     But  who  in  a  suffering  and  dying  world  can  esti- 
mate the  value  of  such  an  example  ? 

(d)  He  taught  man  the  true  character  of  God ;  the  nature 
of  his  law ;  the  kind  of  worship  that  would  be  acceptable  to 
him,  and  the  way  in  which  the  throne  of  mercy  may  be  ap- 
proached.    But  who  can   estimate   the  value  to  a  sinful 
world  of  the  knowledge  of  the  way  of  pardon  ? 

(e)  He  introduced  a  religion  which  has  contributed  every- 
where to  the  promotion  of  industry,  purity,  chastity,  truth, 
honesty,  intelligence,  and  liberty ;  which  has  raised  one  sex 
from  the  deepest  degradation,  and  softened  the  asperities, 
and  removed  the  tyranny  of  the  other ;  which  has  led  to  the 
founding  of  hospitals  and  asylums,  and  which  will  ultimately 
put  an  end  to  all  the  forms  of  evil  and  vice  which  tyrannize 


70  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  jWTTH  GOD? 

over  man ;  and  who  can  gauge  the  amount  of  service  which 
he  has  thus  rendered  to  man  and  to  the  universe  ? 

(/)  He  made  an  atonement  for  sin — his  greatest,  noblest 
work.  He  vindicated  by  his  death  the  honour  and  the  law 
of  God ;  and  solved  the  question  which  has  everywhere  con- 
founded the  human  intellect,  how  justice  and  mercy  can 
meet  together,  and  how  righteousness  can  be  maintained  and 
yet  the  sinner  go  free.  He  secured  to  the  universe  by  his 
death,  all  the  advantages  which  could  have  been  secured  by 
the  everlasting  punishment  of  the  sinner  himself,  and  all 
the  advantages  which  now  result  from  admitting  to  heaven 
countless  millions,  who,  but  for  his  sacrifice,  would  have 
been  eternally  wretched  :  and  what  finite  mind  can  estimate 
the  value  of  this  service  rendered  to  the  universe  ? 

(<7)  He  checks  evil  by  his  gospel  and  his  grace,  and  turns 
the  disobedient  to  the  paths  of  virtue.  Take  one  single  ex- 
ample as  an  illustration  of  the  amount  of  service  which  he 
rendered — the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  Think  of  what  he 
would  have  been  with  his  extraordinary  talents,  his  uncom- 
mon learning,  his  vast  energy  of  character,  his  restless 
ambition,  and  his  proud  and  self-confident  heart,  if  there 
had  been  no  atonement,  and  then  of  what  he  was  after  he 
was  converted  to  the  cause  of  virtue  and  of  truth.  Think 
of  his  influence  while  he  lived,  in  meeting  the  evils  and  cor- 
ruptions of  idolatry,  in  closing  temples  of  polluted  worship, 
in  purifying  the  fountains  of  morals,  and  in  diffusing  abroad 
the  principles  of  pure  religion.  Think  of  the  good  which 
has  been  done  since  his  time,  by  his  incomparable  writings 
in  maintaining  the  truth,  and  imparting  consolation  in  a 
world  of  sorrow,  and  see  in  the  conversion  of  that  man  an 
instance  of  the  kind  of  service  which  the  Lord  Jesus  ren- 
dered to  the  universe.  Then  reflect  that  the  case  of  Saul 
of  Tarsus  is  but  one  of  many  hundreds  of  millions — indi- 
vidually less  bright,  but  in  the  aggregate  outshining  his,  as 
the  mingled  light  of  the  galaxy  is  of  greater  glory  than  the 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  71 

twinkling  of  a  single  star :  and  then  ask  who  can  estimate 
the  amount  of  service  which  the  Son  of  God  has  rendered 
to  the  universe  ?  All  that  has  been  done  by  his  holy  life 
and  example ;  all  that  has  been  accomplished  on  earth  by 
the  influence  of  his  religion;  all  that  his  death  did  to 
honour  the  divine  law ;  all  that  has  been  or  will  be  done  by 
arresting  evil  and  staying  the  desolations  of  sin;  all  the 
additions  which  have  been  or  will  be  made  by  redemption, 
to  the  numbers  of  the  heavenly  host,  and  all  the  immortal 
songs  and  joys  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven;  all  these  things 
are  to  be  taken  into  this  estimate,  and  will  be  the  measure 
of  the  voluntary  service  rendered  to  the  universe-  by  the  Son 
of  God.  It  remains  only,  in  order  to  a  complete  explanation 
of  the  subject,  to  add, 

(3.)  That  all  the  merit  of  his  work — all  the  reward 
which  he  deserved,  is  available  to  others.  It  is  that 
superabounding  service  which  has  been  before  referred  to, 
which  can  be  appropriated  in  any  way  that  he  shall  ask. 
Not  needing  it  for  himself,  for  he  dwells  in  "the  glory 
which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was/7  it 
can  be  appropriated  to  those  who  are  poor  and  needy,  and 
destitute  of  any  claim  of  merit.  The  reward  for  all  his  ex- 
traordinary service  may  be  such  as  he  shall  wish,  and  his 
heart  will  not  ask  augmented  glory  for  himself  in  heaven  as 
divine,  but  will  seek  it  in  the  elevation  and  immortal  felicity 
of  the  poor  and  lost  upon  the  earth  for  whom  he  died.  By 
such  a  reward  the  universe  will  lose  nothing,  but  will  on 
every  account  be  a  gainer,  and  the  benevolent  heart  which 
rendered  these  extraordinary  services,  may  be  abundantly 
satisfied  by  asking  that  the  "lost  may  be  saved."  It  was 
on  grounds  like  these  that  it  was  said  in  the  promise,  "Ask 
of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inherit- 
ance, and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  posses- 
sion." Ps.  ii.  8.  Thus  too  the  promise  was,  "he  shall  see 
of  the  travail  of  his  soul ;"  the  fruit  of  his  wearisome  sor- 


72  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST}  WITH   GOD  ? 

row,  "and  shall  be  satisfied."  Isa.  liii.  11.  Thus  too,  in 
asking  in  his  parting  prayer,  that  his  work  on  earth  might 
be  remembered,  he  could  use  with  propriety  the  strong  lan- 
guage when  he  said,  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom 
thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may 
behold  my  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me."  John  xvii.  24. 
To  secure  their  salvation  and  the  universal  spread  of  his 
gospel,  he  can  urge  the  extraordinary  claim  of  the  service 
which  he  has  rendered  by  his  life  of  spotless  virtue,  his  pure 
example,  his  relief  of  human  woes,  and  the  sorrows  which 
he  voluntarily  endured,  in  order  that  the  law  of  God  might 
be  maintained,  and  eternal  justice  asserted  even  when  salva- 
tion was  offered  to  men. 

If  these  views  are  correct,  then  it  follows 

1.  That  we  are  to  look  nowhere  else  than  to  Christ  as  the 
meritorious  cause  of  salvation.     Had  it  been  possible  for 
any  mere  created  being  to  have  wrought  out  sufficient  merit 
to  save  the  soul,  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  his 
death  on  Calvary  would  never  have  occurred.     The  moment 
it  is  maintained  that  man  may  merit  salvation  for  himself  or 
for  others,  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  is  denied,  and  the 
work  of  Christ  dishonoured ;  and  the  doctrine  that  there  are 
anywhere  or  in  any  hands  garnered  up  the  merits  of  holy 
men,  of  which  we  can  avail  ourselves,  derogates  to  just  the 
extent  in  which  it  is  held,  from  the  great  sacrifice,  and  is 
an  attack  on  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  gospel.     In 
our  hopes  of  salvation  we  have  but  One  place  to  which  to 
look.     It  is  not  what  our  own  hands  have  done,  or  what  has 
been  done  by  holy  men  of  other  times,  it  is  the  infinite 
merit  of  the  Son  of  God. 

2.  The  merits  of  the  Saviour  are  sufficient  for  the  salva- 
tion of  all  mankind.     If  the  view  which  has  been  taken  is 
correct,  it  is  clear  that  the  benefit  which  he  has  rendered  to 
the  universe  by  his  holy  obedience  and  death,  are  commen- 
surate with  any  rewards  which  he  may  receive  in  connection 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  73 

with  the  salvation  of  men.  "It  pleased  the  Father  that  in 
him"  in  every  respect,  "should  all  fulness  dwell/'  and 
alike  in  his  power,  his  benevolence,  his  willingness  to  save, 
and  the  merits  of  his  work,  there  is  an  ample  sufficiency  for 
the  wants  of  all  mankind.  Needing  none  of  the  results  of 
his  great  work  on  earth,  for  the  promotion  of  his  own  hap- 
piness, all  that  he  did  may  be  made  available  to  others,  and 
all  men  may  come  with  equal  freeness  and  confidence.  He 
had  the  promise  of  an  ample  and  satisfactory  reward  when 
it  was  said  that  he  "  should  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and 
should  be  satisfied/'  and  on  the  basis  of  that  promise  he 
himself  uses  such  language  as  this,  "  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink ;"  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest  /'  and 
"  whosoever  will,  let  him  come  and  take  the  waters  of  life 
freely."  There  was  no  original  deficiency  in  the  merits  of 
the  Saviour  for  human  salvation,  nor  has  his  merit  been  ex- 
hausted by  the  numbers  that  have  already  been  saved. 
Salvation  in  him  is  like  a  copious  fountain  breaking  out  in 
a  desert.  Such  a  fountain  is  free  for  all  who  may  come. 
It  stands  in  the  pathway  where  the  multitude  move — where 
the  caravans  pass  along,  and  no  one  has  a  right  to  appro- 
priate it  to  himself.  No  tribe  of  men  may  inclose  it  or  may 
obstruct  its  waters.  One  company  of  weary  travellers  has 
as  much  right  there  as  another,  and  to  no  one  particularly 
appertains  the  office  of  dispensing  it  to  the  fainting  pilgrim. 
Any  one  who  will  come  and  kneel  down  there  may  drink 
freely.  And  it  will  never  be  exhausted.  The  fountain  will 
pour  out  its  waters  from  age  to  age.  The  present  company 
of  thirsty  travellers  will  soon  pass  on.  They  will  pursue 
their  journey  and  go  off  to  die,  but  then  the  stream  will 
flow  on  unexhausted  and  inexhaustible  to  the  end  of  time. 
So  it  is  with  the  fountain  of  salvation.  As  many  of  the 
present  generation  as  choose  may  come  and  partake,  and 
then  as  many  of  the  next,  and  the  next,  and  still  the  foun- 


74  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE   JUST?  WITH   GOD  ? 

tain  will  flow  on  unexhausted  and  inexhaustible.  It  will 
flow  just  as  fresh  and  just  as  full  in  the  last  generation  that 
lives,  as  it  did  in  the  days  of  the  Saviour's  personal  resi- 
dence on  earth ;  as  it  does  now ;  and  the  last  sinner  that  is  to 
be  saved,  will  find  it  as  pure  and  as  life-giving  to  his  soul 
as  it  is  to  ours. 

VI.  In  what  sense  we  are  justified  by  the  merits  of  Christ. 

In  the  previous  sections,  it  has  been  shown  that  man  can- 
not justify  himself,  and  that  he  has  no  claim  of  merit  before 
God,  but  that  there  is  in  the  Lord  Jesus  infinite  merit  of 
such  a  nature,  that  it  may  be  made  available  to  us.  In  the 
prosecution  of  this  general  subject,  it  is  proposed  now  to 
illustrate  two  points  : — 

1.  What  is  meant  by  justification  in  the  gospel ;  and 

-2.  In  what  way  we  are  justified  by  the  merits  of  Christ. 

1.  What  is  meant  by  justification  in  the  gospel  ? 

The  object  here  is  to  state  what  is  the  exact  condition  of 
a  man  who  is  justified.  In  what  respect  does  he  differ  from 
what  he  was  before  ?  What  change  has  taken  place  in  refer- 
ence to  him  ?  How  is  he  regarded  by  his  Maker  differently 
from  what  he  was  before  ?  What  new  relation  does  he  sustain 
to  God,  to  his  law,  and  to  his  plan  of  providential  dealings  ? 
These,  it  will  be  seen,  are  important  questions  which  proba- 
bly every  one  is  disposed  to  ask  who  attentively  considers 
this  subject.  They  are  questions,  also,  on  which  serious 
mistakes  are  sometimes  made  as  well  by  those  who  attempt 
to  explain  the  subject,  as  by  individual  Christians  in  reflect- 
ing on  this  new  relation.  A  few  remarks,  showing  what  is 
ftotf  meant,  and  what  is,  will  make  the  subject  clear. 

(1.)  It  is  not  meant  that  a  man  who  is  justified  on  the 
gospel  plan,  is  justified  in  a  legal  sense.  What  it  is  to  be 
so  justified  has  been  before  explained.  It  is  when  a  man  is 
accused  of  a  crime,  and  is  able  to  vindicate  himself  either 
Oy  showing  that  he  did  not  do  the  act  charged  on  him,  or 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      75 

that  he  has  a  right  to  do  it.  If  he  can  do  either  of  these 
things,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  if  the  charge  is  not 
proved  against  him,  he  is  acquitted  by  the  law,  or  is  held  to 
be  righteous  in  regard  to  the  offence  charged.  In  the  pre- 
vious sections  it  has  been  shown  that,  in  this  sense,  man 
cannot  be  justified  before  God,  and  whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  argument  in  the  case,  it  is  certain  that  this  is  not 
the  kind  of  justification  described  in  the  gospel.  It  is  need- 
ful here  to  remark,  only,  that  Christ  did  not  come  to  aid  man 
in  justifying  himself  in  this  sense.  He  did  not  come  to  take 
the  part  of  the  sinner  against  God,  and  to  enable  him  to 
make  out  his  cause.  He  did  not  come  to  be  his  advocate  in 
the  sense  of  assisting  him  in  rebutting  the  charges  made 
against  him ;  in  showing  that  the  charges  had  been  falsely 
laid ;  in  explaining  his  conduct  so  that  it  might  not  appear 
to  be  wrong ;  or  in  offering  palliations  for  admitted  crimi- 
nality. "Whatever  be  the  nature  of  the  work  which  the 
Lord  Jesus  came  to  perform,  and  however  he  may  aid  us  in 
our  salvation,  it  is  all  done  with  the  concession  on  his  part, 
that  we  are  guilty  to  the  full  extent  which  the  law  charges 
on  us. 

(2.)  It  is  not,  in  any  proper  sense,  a  legal  transaction. 
Justification  by  the  law  is  known  only  in  one  way — by  per- 
fect and  uniform  obedience.  The  law  of  God,  in  conform- 
ity with  the  general  principles  of  law,  knows  no  other  mode. 
It  makes  no  provision  for  the  pardon  or  justification  of  those 
who  violate  it,  any  more  than  a  human  law  does.  The 
plan  of  justification  in  the  gospel  is  a  departure  from  the 
regular  process  of  law ;  and  whatever  inferences  may  follow 
from  this,  either  against  the  system  or  in  favour  of  it,  the 
fact  .is  not  to  be  denied.  "  But  now,"  says  the  apostle 
Paul,  "  the  righteousness  of  God  without  the  law  is  mani- 
fested '"  that  is,  the  method  of  justification  in  a  way  dif- 
ferent from  that  known  in  the  law.  Rom.  iii.  21.  All  at- 
tempts to  show  that  the  plan  of  justification  in  the  gospel 


76      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  fWITH  GOD? 

is  a  legal  transaction,  or  is  in  accordance  with  legal  princi- 
ples, have  been  signal  failures,  and  if  there  can  be  no  other 
justification  than  that  which  is  properly  legal,  the  whole 
effort  to  be  saved  must  be  given  up  in  despair.  Nor  does  it 
mean, 

(3.)  That  the  man  who  is  justified  ceases  to  be  ill-de- 
serving or  guilty  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word.  When 
a  man  is  justified  by  law,  he  is  declared  to  be  not  guilty 
or  ill-deserving.  But  it  is  not  so  when  a  man  is  jus- 
tified by  the  gospel.  It  is  expressly  said,  respecting  this 
plan,  that  God  "justifies  the  ungodly,"  (Kom.  iv.  5,)  mean- 
ing that  it  is  admitted  they  are  ungodly  at  the  time,  or  that 
they  are  personally  guilty.  The  act  of  justification  does 
not  change  the  nature  of  the  offence,  or  prove  that  to  be 
right  which  is  in  itself  wrong.  Crime  is  what  it  is  in  its  own 
nature,  and  is  not  modified  by  the  manner  in  which  he  who 
commits  it  is  treated.  To  pardon  a  man  out  of  the  penitentiary 
does  not  prove  that  the  act  of  burglary  or  theft  for  which 
he  was  committed  was  innocent ;  to  forgive  a  man  under  the 
gallows  does  not  prove  that  he  is  not  ill-deserving  for  the  act 
of  murder.  To  be  led  from  any  consideration  to  treat  a 
man  who  has  injured  us  as  if  he  had  not  done  it,  does  not 
prove  that  the  act  was  not  wrong ;  or  that  he  should  not 
regard  himself  as  blameworthy  for  having  done  it.  Our 
kind  treatment  of  him  will  not  be  likely,  in  any  degree,  to 
diminish  his  sense  of  his  criminality,  and  the  act  of  pardon 
with  which  an  offender  against  God  is  met  when  penitent, 
will  not  lessen  his  sense  of  his  own  guilt.  God  never  comes 
in  the  act  of  justification  to  convince  him  that  he  has  not 
done  wrong,  but  to  save  him,  though  it  is  admitted  that  he 
is  a  great  sinner,  and  the  consciousness  that  he  is  a  sinner 
will  attend  him  and  humble  him  through  life.  He  will  lift 
up  his  eyes  and  his  heart  with  thankfulness  that  he  is  a  par- 
doned man ;  not  with  pride  and  self-complacency,  that  he 
is  an  innocent  man.  He  will  have  the  spirit  of  the  publi- 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      77 

can,  not  of  the  Pharisee.  The  publican  that  went  down 
to  his  house  justified  would  not  go  feeling  that  he  was  in- 
nocent ;  he  would  be  filled  with  gratitude  that  so  great 
a  sinner  might  be  forgiven. 

(4.)  Justification  in  the  gospel  does  not  mean  mere  par- 
don. It  has  been  supposed  by  many  that  this  is  all  that  is 
denoted  by  it.  But  there  are  insuperable  objections  to  this 
opinion.  One  is,  that  it  is  a  departure  from  the  common  use 
of  language.  When  a  man  who  has  been  sentenced  to  the 
penitentiary  is  pardoned  before  the  term  of  his  sentence  is 
expired,  we  never  think  of  saying  that  he  is  justified.  The 
offence  is  forgiven,  and  the  penalty  is  remitted ;  but  the  use 
of  the  word  justify  in  his  case  would  convey  a  very  differ- 
ent idea  from  the  word  pardon.  Another  objection  is,  that 
the  sacred  writers  have  so  carefully  and  so  constantly  used 
the  word  justify.  If  mere  pardon  or  forgiveness  were  all 
that  is  intended,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  another  word  has 
been  constantly  employed,  and  a  word  so  different  in  its  sig- 
nification. And  another  objection  is,  that  mere  forgiveness 
is  not  all  which  the  case  seems  to  demand.  There  was  re- 
quired a  reinstating  in  the  favour  of  God ;  a  restoration  to 
forfeited  immunities  and  privileges,  and  a  purpose  in  regard 
to  future  treatment  which  is  not  necessarily  involved  in  the 
word  pardon.  It  may  be  conceived  that,  in  cases  of  pardon 
for  high  offences,  there  would  be  required,  in  order  to  meet 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  not  only  a  remission  of 
the  penalty,  but  a  distinct  act  restoring  to  the  offender  or 
his  family  his  title,  his  hereditary  honours,  and  his  place  in 
civil  relations.  The  pardon  of  Lord  Bacon  would  not  have 
restored  him  at  once  to  the  bench,  nor  the  forgiveness  of 
Raleigh  to  his  station  in  the  court  of  Elizabeth.  In  the 
case  of  a  sinner  against  God,  pardon  respects  mainly  the 
past;  justification  the  purpose  of  God  in  reference  to  the 
future.  Forgiveness  remits  past  crimes;  justification  re- 
spects the  purpose  of  God  to  treat  the  offender  as  if  he  ha4 


78  HOW   SHALL    MAN    BE   JUST  JWITH   GOD  ! 

not  sinned, — and  though  these  may  be  simultaneous,  yet 
they  may  he  separated  in  conception  as  distinct  things.  The 
one  forgives  the  past ;  the  other  reinstates  the  offender  in 
the  lost  favour  of  God. 

(5.)  It  is  not  meant  that,  in  the  act  of  justification,  the 
merits  of  the  Lord  Jesus  become  so  transferred  to  us  that 
they  can  be  regarded  as  literally  ours,  or  that  his  righteous- 
ness is  in  any  proper  sense  our  own.  This  is  not  true,  and 
cannot  be  made  to  be  true.  Moral  character  is  not  capable 
of  being  transferred  from  one  individual  to  another;  and 
however  the  benefits  of  what  one  does  may  be  conveyed  to 
another,  it  will  always  be  true  that  the  character  of  an  indi- 
vidual is  what  it  is  in  itself.  It  will  always  be.  true  that 
Christ,  and  not  we,  obeyed  perfectly  the  law  of  God  ;  that 
Christ,  and  not  his  people,  died  on  the  cross  ;  and  that  the 
merit  of  his  life  and  death  is  strictly  his,  and  not  theirs. 
It  will  always  be  true,  also,  that  they  violated  the  law  of 
God;  that  their  characters  were  sinful,  and  that  they 
deserved  not  the  mercy  of  God.  No  man  can  really  be- 
lieve that  the  moral  character  of  one  individual  can  be 
transferred  to  another,  and  no  one  should  charge  the  Bible 
with  inculcating  any  such  doctrine  either  with  respect  to  the 
effect  of  Adam's  transgression  on  his  posterity,  or  the  right- 
eousness of  the  Redeemer  in  the  salvation  of  his  people. 
We  are  prepared  now  to  remark  positively, 

(6.)  That  justification  on  the  gospel  plan  denotes  a  pur- 
pose on  the  part  of  God  to  treat  a  sinner  as  if  he  were  right- 
eous. ,It  implies  an  intention  not  to  punish  him  for  his 
sins;  not  to  regard  him  as  any  longer  under  condemnation; 
not  to  treat  him  as  an  alien,  an  apostate,  and  an  outcast ;  but 
to  regard  and  treat  him  in  the  future,  in  all  his  important 
relations,  as  if  he  had  never  sinned.  It  involves  the  pur- 
pose to  shield  him  from  the  condemning  sentence  of  the 
law  and  the  wrath  that  shall  come  upon  the  guilty ;  to  ad- 
mit him  to  the  fellowship  of  unfallen  beings;  to  regard 


HOW    SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  79 

him  as  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  a  child  of  God,  as 
if  he  had  not  fallen ;  to  throw  around  him  the  aegis  of  the 
divine  protection  and  favour  to  the  end  of  the  present  life, 
and  then  to  admit  him  to^imniortal  life  in  heaven.  These 
things  would  have  been  his  if  he  had  not  fallen ;  and  these 
things  are  now  made  his  in  virtue  of  the  merits  of  the  Re- 
deemer. In  all  his  great  relations,  in  all  the  most  perma- 
nent and  important  things  that  affect  him,  he  is,  and  is  to 
be,  as  if  he  had  not  sinned.  The  main  evils  of  the  apos- 
tacy  in  his  care  are  arrested,  and  it  is  the  purpose  to  regard 
and  to  treat  him  as  a  child  of  God. 

It  is  important  to  remark  that,  in  these  statements,  it  is 
not  designed  to  affirm  that,  in  all  respects,  the  act  of  justi- 
fication places  a  man  in  precisely  the  same  situation  in  which 
he  would  have  been  if  he  had  not  sinned.  It  is,  indeed, 
designed  to  teach  that,  in  the  direct  divine  dealings  with 
him,  he  will  be  regarded  and  treated  as  if  he  were  person- 
ally righteous.  But  why,  then,  it  will  be  asked,  does  he 
suffer  and  die  ?  Why  is  he  not  removed  to  heaven,  as 
Enoch  and  Elijah  were,  without  seeing  death  ?  Why  does 
the  justified  man  ever  pass  through  severe  bodily  trials,  like 
Job  or  Hezekiah ;  or  experience  the  evils  of  poverty  and 
want,  like  Lazarus ;  or  why  is  he  called  to  part  with  be- 
loved children ;  or  to  be  thrown  into  prison,  or  to  lie  down 
in  the  sorrow  of  the  most  painful  form  of  death,  as  thou- 
sands have  already  done,  and  as  the  children  of  God  now 
often  do  ? 

It  is  necessary  to  make  such  exceptions  or  qualifications  as 
these  in  explaining  the  nature  of  justification.  Though 
justified,  man  is  not,  in  fact,  treated  in  this  world,  in  all 
respects,  as  he  would  have  been  if  he  had  not  sinned.  In 
the  life  to  come  he  will  be.  But  nothing  is  plainer  than 
that,  in  the  present  life,  things  occur,  in  reference  to  the 
treatment  of  those  who  are  justified,  which  would  not  have 
occurred  if  man  had  not  sinned,  and  which  will  not  occur 


80  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   JiVTTH   GOD  ? 

in  heaven.  Poverty,  sickness,  bereavement,  death,  and  kin- 
dred evils,  come  upon  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  the 
saint  and  the  sinner,  the  man  who  is  justfied  and  the  man 
who  is  not.  These  evils  are,  indeed,  softened  and  miti- 
gated by  religion,  and  may  be  among  the  means  by  which 
the  justified  man  is  better  prepared  for  heaven,  but  still 
they  exist  as  evils ;  and  are  to  be  regarded  as  among  the 
fruits  of  sin  not  removed  by  the  act  of  justification,  and  as 
furnishing  the  exceptions  or  qualifications  alluded  to  when 
it  is  said  that,  in  this  life,  the  justified  man  is  not  treated 
in  all  respects  as  if  he  had  not  sinned.  The  reasons  why 
the  evils  of  sin  are  not  entirely  arrested  by  the  act  of  justi- 
fication, and  why  the  believer  is  not  treated  in  this  life,  in 
all  respects,  as  if  he  had  not  sinned,  seem  to  be  principally 
two : — 

(a)  One  is,  that  it  is  not  the  nature  of  religion  to  arrest  or 
change  the  operation  of  physical  laws.  It  will  have  an 
indirect  and  gradual  effect  in  checking  some  of  those  laws ; 
but  to  have  made  that  effect  direct  and  immediate,  would 
have  required  a  constant  miracle.  It  is  not  the  design  of 
religion  to  restore  health  or  property  which  have  been  wasted 
by  dissipation ;  to  check  the  results  of  vice  in  those  who 
have  been  led  astray  by  evil  example,  or  to  stay  the  effects 
of  a  life  of  guilt  on  our  physical  frame.  A  life  of  virtue 
will  ultimately  do  much  to  accomplish  this;  but  to  do  it  at 
once  would  require  the  physical  power  of  a  miracle.  For 
the  same  reason,  to  be  justified  does  not  save  from  tempo- 
ral death,  and  death  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  our 
physical  being.  No  one  can  doubt  that  God  could  have 
saved  us  from  this,  but  it  would  be  easy  to  suggest  reasons 
why  it  has  not  been  done. 

(6)  Another  reason  why  the  act  of  justification  does  not 
secure  the  same  treatment  in  all  respects  here  as  if  man  had 
never  sinned,  is  that  he  who  is  justified,  and  who  is  at  heart 
a  true  believer,  is  often  in  circumstances  where  he  needs 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOB?  81 

the  discipline  of  the  hand  of  God.  He  is  not  at  once  made 
perfect ;  and  his  imperfections,  his  wanderings,  his  neglect 
of  duty,  his  worldliness,  often  demand  the  interposition  of 
God  for  his  own  good  in  a  way  which  would  neither  be  ne- 
cessary nor  proper  in  the  case  of  one  who  had  never  sinned. 
Hence  if  the  Christian  sins,  he  may  be  recalled  even  by 
stripes.  Hence  he  comes  under  the  regular  physical  laws 
of  the  divine  administration  in  the  world.  Hence  he  is 
sick  or  bereaved.  Hence,  like  other  men,  he  may  be  cut 
off  by  the  pestilence,  may  be  swallowed  up  in  the  promis- 
cuous ruin  of  an  earthquake,  or  lie  down  on  a  bed  of  long 
and  lingering  disease,  and  die.  Here,  he  is  subject  to  the 
physical  laws  of  our  being,  and  to  the  administration  of  a 
wise  discipline ;  in  the  world  to  come  he  will  be  treated 
altogether  as  if  he  had  never  sinned.  No  distinction 
will  be  made  between  him  and  unfallen  beings,  nor  will 
there  be  any  such  remembrance  of  his  own  former  guilt 
that  he  will  occupy  a  less  elevated  position,  or  have  less 
ready  access  to  the  throne  than  if  he  had  never  been  a 
transgressor. 

It  was  proposed 

2.  To  show  how  justification  is  accomplished  through 
the  merits  of  Christ,  or  how  his  merits  become  available 
to  us  for  this  purpose.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  say,  in 
explaining  this,  that  his  righteousness  is  imputed  to  us, 
or  that  it  becomes  ours.  But,  as  this  language  to  many 
minds  does  not  convey  a  very  definite  conception,  and  as 
on  other  minds  it  often  conveys  erroneous  impressions,  and 
seems  to  be  irreconcilable  with  the  common  notions  of  men 
about  moral  character,  it  is  necessary  to  explain  in  what 
sense  we  become  justified  by  the  merits  of  Christ.  Per- 
haps in  doing  this,  also,  it  may  be  shown  that,  so  far  from 
being  contrary  to  the  common  notions  of  men  about  what  is 
right  and  proper,  it  is,  in  fact,  but  carrying  out,  on  the  most 
elevated  scale  possible,  what  is  practically  occurring  every 


82  HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 

day  in  the  common  relations  and  transactions  of  life.     It  is 
to  be  observed  then, 

(1.)  That  we  are  often  benefitted  by  what  others  have 
done.  The  meaning  is,  that  what  they  have  done  is  of  the 
same  advantage  to  us,  for  certain  ends,  as  if  we  had  done  it 
ourselves.  A  case  or  two,  taken  from  familiar  transactions, 
will  illustrate  what  is  meant,  and  help  to  a  proper  explana- 
tion of  the  subject.  Take  the  case  of  a  father  and  a  son. 
The  reputation  of  the  one  is  often  a  passport  or  recom- 
mendation to  the  other  of  very  great  value  as  he  enters  on 
life.  The  son  has,  as  yet,  no  known  character,  no  acquaint- 
ance with  the  world,  no  credit.  The  father  has  all  these. 
He  is  widely  known  as  a  man  of  virtue ;  he  has  an  exten- 
sive and  honoured  circle  of  acquaintance ;  he  has  ample 
credit  in  the  business  in  which  he  is  engaged.  Now,  while 
it  is  true  that  this  character  and  credit  belong  to  the  father 
as  his  own,  and  cannot  be  literally  transferred  to  the  son,  it 
is  also  true  that,  for  certain  purposes,  it  may  be  made  to 
answer  the  same  ends  for  him  as  if  it  were  his  own.  Un- 
less by  his  own  misconduct  he  shall  forfeit  the  advantage 
which  he  might  derive  from  it,  it  will  be  a  passport  to  him 
as  he  enters  on  life ;  it  will  go  before  him  preparing  many 
hearts  to  greet  him  with  kindness ;  it  will  obtain  for  him 
the  confidence  of  others ;  it  may  be  the  means  of  securing 
for  him  many  a  friend  and  helper  when  calamities  come, 
even  when  his  father  lies  in  the  grave.  While  it  will  al- 
ways be  true  that  all  the  merit  and  the  credit  appertain  to 
his  father,  and  while  whatever  may  be  his  own  subsequent 
worth,  he  will  cherish  a  deep  and  abiding  impression  of 
that,  it  is  also  true  that,  for  certain  purposes,  he  could  have 
derived  no  higher  advantages  in  the  case,  if  the  character 
and  the  credit  had  been  his  own.  It  would  not,  indeed, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  be  the  same ;  but  there  are  great 
and  valuable  ends  in  his  passage  through  the  world,  which 
could  be  no  better  secured  if  all  this  had  been  his  own. 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      83 

The  influence  of  his  father's  name  and  character,  unless  he 
forfeits  the  advantage,  will  attend  him  far  on,  perhaps 
entirely  through,  the  journey  of  life. 

Take  another  common  case.  A  young  man  embarks  in 
business  without  capital.  He  has  acquired  already,  it  may 
be,  a  character  for  industry,  talent  and  honesty;  but  he  has 
no  means  by  which  he  can  commence  the  business  of  his 
life.  What  he  wants  now  is  credit.  If  he  had  that  he 
would  be  sure  of  success.  But  he  has  none,  as  yet,  of  his 
own.  He  has  had  no  opportunity  to  make  himself  known 
to  secure  the  extensive  confidence  of  his  fellow-men.  You 
have  had  such  an  opportunity  and  have  done  it.  To  a  cer- 
tain extent  and  for  certain  purposes,  you  allow  him  to  make 
use  of  your  name.  You  endorse  his  paper,  and  agree  to 
be  responsible  for  him.  Now  this,  to  him,  in  the  case  re- 
ferred to,  is  of  just  as  much  value  as  though  the  credit  at- 
tached to  your  name  were  his.  It  will  be  worth  as  much  to 
him  in  the  particular  matter  referred  to  as  though  he  him- 
self earned  all  the  influence  attached  to  that  name,  and 
secured,  by  a  long  and  upright  life,  the  credit  which  it  con- 
veys. There  will  be,  indeed,  in  other  respects,  important 
points  of  difference,  but  not  in  the  immediate  use  which  he 
designs  to  make  of  the  name.  He  will  have  a  very  lively 
sense  of  the  truth  that  he  himself  has  not  this  credit ;  that 
he  is  unknown,  and  that  he  is  under  the  deepest  obligations 
to  you.  He  will  never  so  far  mistake  the  matter  as  to  sup- 
pose that  your  moral  character  and  worth  are  transferred  to 
him,  or  that  he  can  regard  either  as,  in  any  proper  sense,  his 
own;  but  he  will  consider  that  this  is  available  for  just  the 
purposes  for  which  he  wants  it.  It  is  all  he  needs  to  secure 
the  grand  object  of  his  life,  and  is  as  good  to  him  as  if  it 
were  his  own. 

Further :  if  we  would  look  over  society,  we  should 
find  that  this  arrangement  prevails  everywhere,  and  that 
we  are  indebted  to  it  every  day.  It  may  be  doubtful 


84  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST}  WITH  GOD? 

whether  we  live  a  single  hour,  or  execute  a  single  plan 
of  life,  without  being  more  or  less  indebted  to  it.  It  is  an 
influence  diffused  around  us  like  the  air  we  breathe,  or  the 
sun  which  shines  on  our  way ;  or  it  is  like  the  tissues  of 
the  human  frame  where  each  part  derives  benefits  in  its 
functions  from  the  numerous-  other  parts  with  which  it  is 
more  or  less  closely  interwoven.  It  enters  into  the  very 
texture  of  society  that  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  toils,  the 
sacrifices,  the  virtues,  and  the  honoured  names  of  those 
with  whom  we  are  connected.  No  man  acquires  a  name 
for  virtue  who  does  not  do  much  to  benefit  his  children  and 
friends  in  this  way,  and  one  of  the  chief  stimulants  to  effort 
in  parents  is,  that  they  may  place  their  children  on  as  high 
vantage  ground  as  possible  when  they  embark  on  life.  That 
youth  enters  on  life  under  great  disadvantages  who  cannot 
encircle  himself  with  this  influence,  and  who  is  constrained 
to  "  cut  his  way"  to  respectability  or  to  wealth  alone.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  there  are  few  that  do  this.  The 
name  and  influence  of  a  father  or  a  friend ;  a  letter  of  com- 
mendation from  those  who  are  known  and  loved,  will  be  a 
passport  to  us  in  distant  climes,  and  among  strangers ;  will 
meet  us  with  its  benign  influence  on  the  Rhine  or  the  Gan- 
ges 'y  will  help  us  where  we  should  otherwise  fall  into  the 
hands  of  freebooters  in  a  foreign  land,  or  when  we  should 
otherwise  sink  under  poverty  and  want;  or  on  a  distant 
shore  will  raise  up  for  us  a  friend  on  the  bed  of  death.  He 
enters  life  under  the  best  auspices  who  can  avail  himself 
most  of  this  without  sacrificing  his  independence  or  being  a 
sycophant  or  parasite ;  and  he  is  the  most  foolish  and  un- 
grateful of  mankind  who  would  willingly  renounce  all  this 
advantage,  and  choose  to  weather  the  storms  of  life  and 
make  his  way  through  the  world  friendless  and  alone. 

(2.)  The  second  remark  in  explaining  the  way  in  which 
we  are  justified  by  the  merits  of  Christ,  is,  that  there  are 
two  methods  by  which  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  benefit  of 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      85 

the  character  and  virtues  of  others.  The  one  is,  by  natural 
relationship.  This  occurs  in  the  case  of  a  child,  who,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  derives  advantage  from  the  industry,  the 
character  and  the  credit  of  a  parent.  The  other  is,  by  an 
arrangement  made  for  that  end.  Instances  of  this  latter  kind 
occur  everywhere.  The  case  of  an  adopted  child  is  one — a 
case  where  there  is  no  natural  relation,  and  no  natural  claim, 
but  where  one  chooses  for  any  reasons,  that  the  child  of 
another  should  be  received  into  his  family  and  treated  as  if 
he  were  his  own.  It  occurs  not  unfrequently  in  the  case  of 
a  matrimonial  alliance,  where  the  one  party  avails  itself  of 
the  name  and  influence  and  rank  of  the  other,  and  on  that 
account  has  a  degree  of  respect  to  which,  otherwise,  there 
would  be  no  claim.  It  occurs  in  the  cases  already  referred 
to,  where  the  use  of  a  name  is  conceded.  The  name  of  the 
missionary  Schwartz  was  thus  the  means  of  saving  from 
starvation  the  whole  of  a  British  garrison,  and  many  a  man 
owes  his  subsequent  elevation  in  life,  to  assistance  furnished 
him  at  the  outset.  Cases  have  arisen  where  the  signet  or 
the  ring  of  a  prince  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  an- 
other, conveying  to  him,  if  danger  should  befal  him,  all  the 
influence  and  security  which  they  would  to  the  owner  him- 
self; nor  is  it  very  uncommon  to  give  a  carte  blanche  to  a 
friend  to  be  filled  up  at  pleasure.  It  remains  now  only,  in 
view  of  these  illustrations, 

.  (3.)  To  remark  in  explanation  of  the  way  in  which  we 
are  justified  through  the  merits  of  Christ.  It  is,  that  we 
are  permitted  to  avail  ourselves  of  his  abounding  merits,  so 
that  we  may  be  treated  as  if  they  were  our  own.  It 
is  not  that  his  merits  are  transferred  to  us,  or  that  his  moral 
character  or  righteousness  becomes  properly  ours,  or  that  we 
cease  to  deserve  punishment,  or  that  an  apology  is  made  for 
our  sins,  or  that  Christ  takes  our  part  against  justice;  but 
that  his  merits  are  so  ample,  his  life  and  death  have  accom- 
plished so  much,  and  his  work  has  been  so  meritorious,  that 


86  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUSff  WITH   GOD? 

we  may,  by  a  suitable  connection  with  him,  be  regarded  and 
treated  as  if  we  were  truly  righteous  before  God ;  so  that 
"  God  can  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in 
Jesus;"  just  and  true  while  he  "justifies  the  ungodly." 

This  connection  between  the  Saviour  and  those- -who  are 
benefitted  by  his  merits  is  not  a  natural  connection,  for  no 
such  relation  by  nature  subsists  as  would  entitle  any  one  to 
be  regarded  and  treated  as  righteous  on  his  account,  but  it 
is  a  relation  which  is  constituted  entirely  by  faith.  The 
influence  of  faith  in  forming  it,  and  in  making  it  proper 
that  they  who  are  united  to  him  should  be  treated  as  right- 
eous, will  be  explained  hereafter.  It  is  sufficient  now  to 
remark,  that  the  relation  which  is  sustained  is  one  that  is 
formed,  not  one  that  exists  by  nature. 

It  is  formed  by  a  personal  union  of  the  soul  to  Christ, 
and  by  the  gracious  concession  on  his  part  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  arrangement,  that  we  may  avail  ourselves 
of  his  infinite  and  inexhaustible  merits,  so  that  we  may  be 
treated  as  if  they  were  our  own.  There  are  two  additional 
thoughts  which  may  be  suggested  to  illustrate  this : 

(a)  The  one  is,  that  his  merit  is  inexhaustible.  There 
is  no  diminution  or  exhaustion  of  the  merit  of  his  work,  by 
the  numbers  that  avail  themselves  of  it.  This  makes  the 
plan  of  redemption  wholly  different  from  any  thing  which 
occurs  among  men.  A  man  of  the  widest  credit  and  highest 
standing  may  be  conceived  to  allow  his  name  to  be  so  often 
used  by  those  who  have  no  claim  to  it,  or  who  turn  out  to 
be  worthless,  and  abuse  his  claim,  as  to  exhaust  his  credit, 
and  make  his  name  good  for  nothing.  Not  so  the  Saviour. 
No  numbers  that  apply  exhaust  his  credit,  or  diminish  at 
all  the  merit  of  that  blood  by  which  they  are  saved.  That 
blood  is  as  efficacious  now,  and  that  holy  name  of  our  advo- 
cate is  as  much  honoured  in  heaven  now,  as  when  the  first 
pinner  was  justified,  and  when  the  gates  of  glory  were  first 
thrown  open  to  receive  a  ransomed  soul. 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH   GOD?  87 

(6)  The  other  remark  is,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  becomes 
the  surety  that  the  universe  shall  suffer  no  wrong  by  our 
being  admitted  to  heaven.  So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  he 
pledges  himself  to  meet  all  the  claims  of  the  law  and  of 
justice  upon  us.  That  is,  he  becomes  the  surety,  that, 
under  this  arrangement,  as  great  good  shall  result  to  the 
universe  by  our  being  saved,  as  would  be  by  our  punish- 
ment forever.  By  such  punishment,  nothing  would  have 
been  gained  in  regard  to  the  honour  of  the  law,  the  truth 
of  God,  and  the  interests  of  justice,  which  are  not  secured 
under  the  present  arrangement  by  the  substituted  sorrows 
of  the  Son  of  God  in  making  the  atonement.  Thus  he  be- 
comes the  "  surety  of  a  better  covenant,"  (Heb.  vii.  22 ;) 
and  stands  before  the  universe  as  the  public  pledge  that  no 
harm  is  done  to  any  interest  of  truth  and  justice  by  the  ad- 
mission of  one,  who  is  an  acknowledged  sinner,  into  heaven. 
Thus  the  publican  was  justified ;  thus  Paul,  the  persecutor 
and  blasphemer,  won  Christ  and  was  found  in  him,  not 
having  his  own  righteousness  which  was  of  the  law,  but 
that  which  was  through  the  faith  of  Christ/'  (Phil.  iii.  8,  9;) 
and  thus  multitudes  of  the  profane  and  the  sensual  by  be- 
lieving on  Christ,  have  entered  heaven  and  been  blessed. 
There  stands  the  great  Advocate,  not  for  their  sins  but  for 
them;  and  there  stands  the  security,  that  no  injury  shall  be 
done  by  treating  even  such  sinners  forever  as  if  they  were 
righteous,  and  that  all  that  law  or  justice  could  ask — all  that 
could  be  secured  either  by  their  own  personal  perfect  obe- 
dience, or  by  their  enduring  the  eternal  penalty  of  the  law, 
has  been  secured  by  his  holy  life  and  meritorious  death. 
When,  therefore,  they  enter  heaven,  it  is  not  over  prostrated 
law ;  over  a  humbled  government ;  over  disregarded  threat- 
enings ;  by  a  changeful  policy,  or  by  partiality  in  the  ad- 
ministration ',  it  is  because  their  great  Surety  has  himself 
secured  the  honour  of  the  law,  and  that  in  their  conscious 
destitution  of  merit  he  has  enough  for  them  all.  His  name 


88      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUS?  WITH  GOD? 

is  the  guarantee  to  justice  and  to  God;  his  inexhaustible 
merits  the  reason  why  they  may  be  treated  as  t/his  right- 
eousness were  their  own. 

This  is  what  is  properly  meant  by  imputation.  The  true 
doctrine  implies  no  transfer  of  moral  character ;  no  infusion 
of  righteousness  into  the  soul ;  no  physical  identity  between 
the  Redeemer  and  his  people ;  no  charging  of  their  sins  to 
him,  so  that  he  became  in  any  proper  sense  a  sinner  or  de- 
served to  be  put  to  death, — nothing  but  the  purpose  on  the 
part  of  God,  in  virtue  of  what  he  has  done,  to  treat  those 
who  are  themselves  guilty,  as  if  they  were  righteous.  "  By 
that  righteousness  being  imputed  to  us,"  says  President 
Edwards,  "  is  meant  no  other  than  this,  that  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ  is  accepted  for  us  and  admitted  instead  of 
that  perfect  inherent  righteousness  which  ought  to  be  in 
ourselves.  Christ's  perfect  obedience  shall  be  reckoned  to 
our  account,  so  that  we  shall  have  the  benefit  of  it,  as  though 
we  had  performed  it  ourselves."  Vol.  v.  394. 

These  views  have  reference  to  the  most  important  subject 
of  religion.  They  pertain  to  that  great  doctrine  which 
separates  Christianity  from  every  other  system  of  religion ; 
and  to  the  answer  which  Christianity  furnishes  to  the  ques- 
tion asked  with  so  much  solicitude  in  every  age,  "  How  shall 
man  be  justified  with  God  ?"  The  answer  is,  "  That  we  are 
justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus."  Romans  iii.  24.  It  is  this  doctrine  which 
divides  the  religion  of  the  gospel  from  all  other  systems ;  which 
makes  it  what  it  is ;  which  gives  it  whatever  influence  or 
power  it  has  in  speaking  peace  to  the  troubled  conscience, 
and  bidding  the  spirit  that  is  captive  under  sin  go  free.  It 
is  this  which  will  enable  man  to  appear  before  his  final 
Judge  justified,  not  by  any  miserable  attempt  to  deny  the 
fact  that  he  is  a  sinner ;  to  apologise  for  his  errors  and  fol- 
lies, and  found  a  claim  to  favour  on  such  apology;  to  sub- 
stitute an  external  morality  for  that  holiness  of  heart  which 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  89 

the  law  of  G-od  requires,  or  to  present  as  a  ground  of  ac- 
ceptance the  vain  oblation  of  outward  forms. 

But  it  should  be  observed  also,  that  though  this  method 
of  justification  is  entirely  peculiar  to  Christianity,  and  sepa- 
rates it  from  all  other  religious  systems,  yet  that  it  accords 
with  principles  prevailing  everywhere  in  society,  and  on 
which  men  act  every  day  and  in  every  land.  It  is  the  em- 
bodiment and  concentration  of  these  principles,  and  shows 
their  operation  on  the  highest  scale  possible.  Thus,  as 
already  remarked,  in  matters  pertaining  to  this  life,  we  owe 
to  the  name  and  standing  and  credit  of  others,  an  introduc- 
tion to  the  world,  facilities  for  doing  business,  valued  friends 
who  may  succour  us  in  trouble :  and  on  substantially  the 
same  principles,  though  on  an  infinitely  higher  scale,  we 
owe  to  the  merits  of  another — the  Son  of  God — an  intro- 
duction to  the  divine  favour ;  a  passport  to  heaven ;  the 
friendship  of  angelic  beings }  the  peace  of  pardon ;  the  calm- 
ness of  the  Christian's  death;  and  the  crown  incorruptible 
beyond  the  grave.  Whatever  we  shall  have  in  the  long 
ages  of  eternity,  of  joy  or  peace,  of  honour  or  favour,  is  to 
be  traced  to  the  operation  of  this  principle  on  the  highest 
scale  possible ;  that  we  may  be  benefitted  by  the  sacrifices 
and  toils ;  the  name  and  merit ;  the  righteousness  and  suf- 
ferings of  another. 

In  common  affairs  we  do  not  disregard  or  undervalue  this. 
Those  who  enter  on  life  regard  it  as  a  felicitous  circumstance 
in  their  condition,  if  they  may  go  forth  with  such  passports 
and  commendations  to  the  esteem  of  the  world.  That 
young  man  would  regard  himself  justly  as  destitute  of  every 
manly  and  generous  feeling,  as  well  as  every  principle  of 
self-respect,  who  should  discard  and  spurn  this  advantage, 
and  prefer  to  go  forth  to  the  world  without  the  commenda- 
tion or  the  patronage  of  a  single  friend.  We  are  going  to 
a  more  important  theatre  of  being  than  is  this  narrow 

world.     We  shall  soon  pass  beyond  its  outer  bounds  and 

8* 


90  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  fWTTH   GOD? 

move  through  other  regions.  We  are  to  go  up  and  meet 
our  Maker ;  to  enter  on  a  mode  of  existence  that  shall  have 
no  end ;  to  be  associated  with  now  unknown  orders  of  beings ; 
and  there  are  great  interests  at  stake,  compared  with  which 
all  the  interests  of  earth  are  trifles.  We  go  to  a  royal 
court — the  court  of  heaven — where  we  have  no  claim  to  a 
right  to  appear.  We  go  up  to  obtain,  if  we  are  happy  there, 
the  favour  of  a  Being  whose  law  we  have  violated,  and 
whose  displeasure  we  have  incurred.  We  go  where  we  can 
take  no  wealth  with  us,  and  where  if  we  could,  it  would 
avail  nothing ;  where  we  shall  be  disrobed  of  all  in  a  grace- 
ful exterior,  or  in  fascinating  manners  that  may  commend 
us  to  others  here,  and  where,  if  it  should  accompany  us,  it 
would,  be  valueless ;  where  the  name  of  a  father,  or  the 
powerful  influence  of  a  friend,  that  might  commend  us  to 
the  favour  of  men,  would  be  of  no  avail ;  where  nothing  on 
which  we  here  rely  as  a  passport  to  others,  can  be  a  com- 
mendation. But  there  is  one  in  human  flesh  that  dwells 
there.  He  once  lived  among  men.  He  was  most  holy, 
and  lowly,  and  pure,  but  he  died.  He  rose  from  the  tomb, 
and  the  everlasting  gates  were  opened,  and  he  entered  his 
native  skies.  To  the  very  interior  of  the  court  of  heaven ; 
to  the  sacred  seat  of  Deity;  to  the  throne  itself,  he  has  been 
admitted,  and  is  seated  there.  With  all  that  heaven  he  is 
familiar,  for  he  is  there  at  home.  With  all  its  streets  of 
gold,  with  all  its  far  distant  mansions,  with  all  its  many  de- 
partments fitted  up  for  the  abodes  of  the  blessed,  he  is  fami- 
liar. His  powerful  aid  he  proffers  us  in  our  sin  and  igno- 
rance and  helplessness,  and  assures  us  that  he  is  willing  that 
we  should  plead  his  name,  and  make  mention  of  his  merits 
as  if  they  were  our  own,  as  a  reason  why  we  should  be  wel- 
come there.  In  heaven  his  plea  has  never  been  denied ; 
the  claim  of  his  merits  has  never  been  dishonoured.  Shall 
we  refuse  his  offer  ?  Shall  we  spurn  his  name  ?  Shall  we 
turn  away  from  that  friend,  and  advocate,  and  patron,  and 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  91 

go  there  friendless  and  alone  ?  Shall  we  seek  to  commend 
ourselves  to  a  holy  God  by  our  own  doings,  and  to  stand 
there  in  our  own  attempts  to  vindicate  our  ways  ?  Shall  we 
spurn  the  robes  of  salvation  which  he  proffers — so  white,  so 
pure,  so  full  and  flowing,  and  gird  ourselves  with  the  rags 
of  our  own  righteousness  ? 

VTI.    The  influence  of  faith  in  justification. 

In  the  last  section,  in  showing  how  we  are  saved  through 
the  merits  of  Christ,  it  was  remarked  that  the  means  by 
which  we  become  interested  in  his  merits,  or  by  which  they 
are  made  availiable  to  us,  is  faith.  It  was  then  proposed  to 
go  into  a  fuller  explanation  in  the  subsequent  parts  of  this 
tract.  That  duty  it  remains  now  to  perform. 

The  substance  of  the  Christian  doctrine  on  this  subject 
is  expressed  in  the  following  passages  of  Scripture  : — "  For 
I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth, 
to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.  For  therein  is 
revealed  the  righteousness  of  God  from  faith  to  faith ;  as  it 
is  written,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  Rom.  i.  16,  17. 
The  doctrine  of  this  passage  is,  that  a  man  is  considered 
just  before  God,  and  treated  as  such,  not  in  virtue  of  his 
own  works,  but  in  virtue  of  his  exercising  faith  in  Christ. 
"  For  therein/7  that  is,  in  the  gospel,  "  the  righteousness 
of  God/7  or  God's  plan  of  regarding  and  treating  men  as 
righteous,  "  is  revealed  from  faith  to  faith ;"  that  is,  by 
faith  unto  those  who  have  faith,  or  who  believe,  as  it  is 
written,  "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  or  those  justified  by 
faith  shall  have  everlasting  life.  It  is  needless  to  prove  at 
length  that  this  is  the  settled  doctrine  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. "  Therefore  we  conclude,"  says  the  apostle  in  the 
third  chapter  of  this  epistle,  (ver.  28,)  "  that  a  man  is  jus- 
tified by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law."  Again,  "  By 
the  deeds  of  the  law,  there  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his 


92  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  f  WITH  GOD? 

sight.  But  now  the  righteousness  of  God  without  the  law 
is  manifested,  being  witnessed  by  the  law  and  the  prophets  ; 
even  the  righteousness  of  God,  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ,  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe ;  for  there 
is  no  difference."  Rom.  iii.  20-22.  So  the  apostle  Paul 
says  again,  "  A  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the 
law,  but  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ/7  Gal.  ii.  16.  In 
accordance  with  this,  is  the  great  doctrine  which  the  Sa- 
viour taught  his  disciples  to  promulgate  as  comprising  all 
that  he  designed  them  to  teach  :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned."  Mark  xvi.  15,  16.  That  is,  there  is  no 
other  method  of  being  saved  but  by  believing,  or  by  faith, 
and  if  a  man  has  not  this,  he  must  be  lost. 

Probably  every  one  who  has  ever  read  these  passages  has 
been  disposed  to  ask,  Why  is  so  much  stress  laid  on  faith  in 
the  plan  of  redemption  ?  Why  is  it  made  so  central,  and 
so  indispensable  in  the  salvation  of  the  soul  ?  What  inhe- 
rent virtue  is  there  in  this  act  that  has  given  it  such  a  pre- 
eminence over  all  other  virtues  ?  What  is  there  in  this 
that  should  make  it  a  substitute  for  all  the  good  works  that 
men  can  perform  ?  Perhaps  some  will  be  disposed  to  add, 
that  the  system  of  Christianity  is  thus  removed  from  all 
other  systems,  and  is  different  from  all  the  laws  and  princi- 
ples on  which  men  act  in  other  things.  Merit,  in  other 
cases,  is  not  in  accordance  with  a  man's  belief,  but  accord- 
ing to  his  virtues — his  moral  worth — and  why  should  faith 
have  such  special  eminence  in  the  eye  of  God  ?  The  re- 
wards of  this  life  are  not  distributed  according  to  a  man's 
faith  or  credulity,  and  why  should  the  rewards  of  heaven 
be  ?  We  judge  of  the  excellency  of  a  man's  character  not 
according  to  the  readiness  with  which  he  embraces  what  is 
proposed  to  him  for  his  credence,  but  usually  somewhat  in 
proportion  to  his  caution  and  the  slowness  of  his  belief,  and 


HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  93 

why  does  religion  require  a  man  to  hasten  to  believe  that 
which  is  proposed  to  him,  as  if  this  were  the  chiefest  of  the 
virtues?  When,  also,  a  man  is  put  on  trial,  he  is  acquit- 
ted, not  because  he  exhibits  an  example  of  trusting  in  his 
judge  or  his  advocate,  but  because  he  is  able  to  vindicate 
his  conduct;  and  why  shall  we  not  look  for  something  ana- 
logous in  religion  ?  Why  are  pardon  and  hope ;  life  and 
joy;  heaven  and  glory;  peace  here  and  bliss  hereafter;  all 
made  to  depend  on  faith — "  the  centre  and  the  circumfe- 
rence ;  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end,  according 
to  the  gospel,  of  every  virtue  ?  These  are  questions  which 
it  is  natural  to  ask ;  they  are  questions  which  the  friend  of 
Christianity  should  feel  it  to  be  a  part  of  his  vocation  to 
answer.  The  relation  or  connection  which  these  questions 
bear  to  the  subject  before  us  is  this : — Supposing  that  man 
has  no  merit  of  his  own,  as  has  been  shown,  and  that  there 
are  infinite  merits  in  the  Redeemer  through  which  we  may 
be  saved,  why  is  it  proper  that  we  should  avail  ourselves  of 
those  merits  only  through  faith  ?  Why  should  faith  be  the 
instrument  by  which  we  may  be  treated  as  if  those  merits 
were  ours  ? 

The  answer  to  these  questions  is,  that,  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  faith  constitutes  a  union  with  the  Re- 
deemer, of  such  a  nature  as  to  make  it  proper  to  treat  us 
substantially  as  he  himself  is  treated;  that  is,  as  righteous; 
to  make  it  proper  that  we  should  share  his  happiness,  his 
favour,  his  protection  on  earth,  and  his  glory  in  heaven ; 
that  the  union  formed  by  faith  between  the  soul  and  the 
Redeemer  is  so  tender,  so  close,  and  so  strong  as  to  imply 
an  identity  of  interest,  and  to  make  it  certain  and  proper 
that  the  blessings  descending  on  him  should,  according  to 
their  capacity  and  wants,  descend  on  those  who  believe.  It 
is  meant  that  the  particular  reason  why  faith  has  been  se- 
lected as  the  means  of  this  is,  that  it  constitutes  a  union 
more  close,  firm,  and  enduring  than  any  other  virtue,  and 


94      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST*  WITH  GOD? 

that  it  meets  and  overcomes  more  evils  in  the  world  than  any 
other  act  of  the  mind  would  do.  On  this  account,  it  is  sin- 
gled out  from  all  other  acts  of  the  mind  in  the  plan  of  jus- 
tifying men.  To  many  these  remarks  may  appear  abstract 
and  obscure  now.  It  is  proposed,  therefore,  in  a  series  of 
observations  to  show  why  faith  is  so  important;  why  it  is  the 
very  cardo  rerum — the  hinge  of  salvation. 

One  other  preliminary  remark  should  be  made.  It  is 
that  there  is  a  great  and  essential  difference  between  faith 
and  credulity.  We  distinguish  them  accurately  in  common 
life ;  we  fear  that  they  are  sometimes  confounded  when  men 
think  of  religion. 

The  inquiry  proposed  embraces  essentially  the  two  follow- 
ing points  : — Why  faith  is  of  so  much  importance  in  a  work 
of  salvation ;  and  why  faith  in  Christ  is  made  so  prominent 
and  essential.  The  first  point  of  inquiry  is,  why  faith  is 
of  so  much  importance  in  a  work  of  salvation.  In  reply  to 
this  inquiry  let  it  be  observed, 

(1.)  That  faith  acts  an  important  part  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world.  Using  the  word  in  the  sense  of  confidence, 
there  is  nothing  else  on  which  the  welfare  of  society  more 
depends,  or  which  is  more  indispensable  to  its  prosperous 
and  harmonious  relations.  It  enters  into  every  thing, 
and  we  are  every  day  and  every  hour  acting  under  its  in- 
fluence, and  depending  on  it  as  essential  to  all  that  we 
hold  dear.  It  is  the  cement  of  families,  of  neighbourhoods, 
of  governments,  of  nations.  The  faith  of  treaties,  of  com- 
pacts, of  promises,  of  friendships,  of  affection,  is  that  which 
holds  the  world  together,  and  without  which  society  would 
go  to  pieces.  To  loosen  it  at  once,  would  be  like  loosening 
every  rope  in  a  ship,  or  unscrewing  every  fastening  and  bolt 
in  a  machine.  It  is  by  faith,  or  mutual  confidence,  that 
the  relations  of  domestic  life  are  maintained ;  that  the  har- 
mony of  a  family  is  secured  ;  that  business,  in  a  mercantile 
community,  is  carried  on ;  that  a  banking  institution  effects 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  95 

the  purpose  for  which  it  was  chartered ;  or  that  a  govern- 
ment can  secure  the  ends  for  which  it  was  instituted.  It  is 
by  faith  only  that  we  derive  lessons  of  valuable  instruction 
from  history,  or  act  with  reference  to  what  is  yet  to  come. 
If  we  had  no  more  confidence  in  any  of  the  testimonies  of 
history  than  we  have  in  the  fabulous  details  of  the  dynas- 
ties of  India,  the  mythological  periods  of  Grecian  history, 
or  the  legends  of  the  saints,  all  past  history  would  be  ut- 
terly useless,  for  it  would  convey  no  certain  lessons ;  if  we 
had  no  faith  in  the  stability  of  the  course  of  events — the 
rising  of  the  sun,  the  moon  and  the  stars ;  the  return  of 
the  seasons;  the  continuance  of  the  laws  of  magnetism,  of 
gravitation,  or  of  vegetation,  we  should  form  no  plan  for 
the  future  ;  we  should  neither  plant  a  field,  nor  build  a  ship, 
nor  venture  out  on  the  ocean  where  we  might  soon  be  with- 
out sun,  or  star,  or  compass.  We  confide  in  our  teachers, 
in  a  physician,  a  counsellor,  a  clergyman,  and  it  would  be 
impossible  that  the  cause  of  education,  jurisprudence  or  re- 
ligion, could  be  maintained  if  there  were  no  such  confidence. 
The  farmer  of  the  Eastern  States  believes  in  the  vast  fer- 
tility of  the  West,  of  which  he  has  heard,  but  which  he 
has  never  seen,  and,  with  his  wife  and  children,  leaves  the 
graves  of  his  fathers  to  seek  that  land  on  the  strength  of 
his  faith ;  and  the  merchant  believes  that  there  is  such  a 
place  as  Canton  or  Calcutta,  though  he  has  seen  neither ; 
and  on  the  strength  of  that  faith  would  embark  all  his  pro- 
perty in  the  same  vessel,  and  stake  the  whole  question  about 
making  a  fortune  in  this  world  on  his  strong  confidence  that 
such  places,  of  which  he  has  heard,  have  an  existence.  In 
like  manner  we  are  exercising  confidence  in  every  thing. 
We  believe  the  testimony  of  the  historians,  though  we 
never  saw  Xenophon,  or  Thucydides,  or  witnessed  the  events 
of  which  they  wrote;  we  vote  for  the  man  whom  we  have 
never  seen;  we  confide  in  the  bankers  across  the  waters 
whom  we  never  expect  to  behold.  Were  it  not  for  this 


96  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE  JUSfc   WITH   GOD? 

unceasing  confidence  in  the  varied  operations  of  faith,  we 
could  not  get  along  for  a  single  day  or  hour.  The  affairs 
of  the  world  would  at  once  stand  still.  The  bands  of  so- 
ciety would  at  once  become  loosened,  and  every  thing  would 
fall  into  irretrievable  confusion. 

It  is  true,  there  may  be  much  credulity  in  the  world,  and 
multitudes  in  all  professions  and  relations  in  life  are  im- 
posed on.  But  so,  also,  there  is  much  counterfeit  money, 
and  many  may  be  injured  or  ruined  by  it.  But  the  exist- 
ence of  a  circulating  medium  is  indispensable,  and  there  is 
by  far  more  genuine  than  false  coin  at  any  time  in  the 
world,  and  any  quantity  of  spurious  coin  does  not  render 
that  valueless  which  is  genuine.  So  any  amount  of  credu- 
lity does  not  prove  that  it  is  improper  that  men  should  ever 
repose  confidence  in  one  another,  or  that  all  faith  is  value- 
less. 

(2.)  The  second  observation  illustrating  the  importance 
of  faith  with  reference  to  the  subject  before  us  is,  that  faith 
is  the  strongest  conceivable  bond  of  union  between  minds 
and  hearts.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  cement  of  all  unions,  and 
without  which  all  else  is  valueless.  In  friendships,  in  trea- 
ties, in  national  compacts,  in  social  intercourse,  in  the  ten- 
der domestic  relations,  it  is  the  very  bond  of  union,  and 
there  is  nothing  else  that  can  be  a  substitute  for  it.  The 
seal  which  is  affixed  to  a  letter  that  is  sent  to  a  friend  does 
not  make  it  secure  because  no  one  has  power  to  break  it,  but 
because  there  is  confidence  in  each  postmaster  through 
whose  hands  it  may  pass,  and  in  each  stranger  or  friend 
into  whose  hands  it  may  happen  to  fall,  that  he  will  respect 
the  seal,  and  will  not  break  it.  The  seal  which  is  ap- 
pended to  a  will  does  not  render  it  secure  because  no 
one  has  power  to  break  it,  but  because  the  testator  has  con- 
fidence that  his  friends  and  that  the  courts  of  his  country 
will  respect  his  wishes  when  his  mouth  is  forever  closed 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?      97 

against  the  possibility  of  his  declaring  his  desires,  and  his 
hand  powerless  tp  assert  his  rights. 

Look  into  the  relations  of  life.  What  is  it  that  forms 
and  preserves  those  numerous  unions  on  which  the  very 
existence  of  society  depends  ?  What  is  the  basis  of  the 
union  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parent  and  child,  of  brother 
and  sister,  of  friend  and  friend  ?  What  is  there  but  mu- 
tual confidence  ?  And  is  it  asked  what  is  the  strength  of 
that  ?  In  answer  to  these  questions  an  illustration  may  be 
employed,  taken  from  the  most  tender  relation  in  life.  This 
illustration  is  used,  because  it  is  the  very  one  more  than 
once  referred  to  on  this  subject  in  the  Bible,  and  because 
it  enters  so  vitally  into  the  welfare  of  society.  Here  is  a 
young  man  just  entering  on  life.  His  character  is  fair ;  his 
profession  is  honourable;  his  person  and  standing  are  liable 
to  no  objection,  and  no  suspicion — but  what  he  may  be  yet 
no  one  earthly  can  tell,  for  no  one  can  certainly  predict 
about  what  a  man  will  be,  till  he  is  tried.  Here  is  a  youth- 
ful female — the  joy  of  her  mother  and  the  pride  of  her  fa- 
ther's heart.  She  has  been  delicately  trained;  has  a  home 
that  has  every  attraction  ;  is  secure  there  of  unfailing  friends 
as  long  as  her  father  and  mother  shall  live,  and  has  ample 
means  of  support.  She  breaks  all  these  ties;  leaves  the 
home  of  her  childhood ;  bids  adieu  to  father,  mother,  bro- 
thers, and  sisters,  and  commits  herself  into  the  hands  of 
this  comparative  stranger.  A  father's,  and  a  mother's,  and 
a  brother's  love  she  exchanges  for  his.  Her  hand,  her 
heart,  her  property  she  gives  to  him.  She  pledges  herself 
to  go  where  he  goes ;  to  suffer  what  he  suffers ;  to  make  his 
friends  hers;  to  love  him  with  an  ardour  with  which  she 
loves  no  other  human  being ;  to  break  away  from  every  tie 
of  country  and  home  if  he  shall  will  it;  and  in  a  sense 
more  absolute  than  exists  in  any  other  case,  to  commit  her 
happiness  into  his  hands.  Every  day  and  every  hour  that 
they  will  live,  she  is  dependent  on  his  prosperity,  his  virtue, 


98      HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JU&T  WITH  GOD? 

and  his  smiles  for  her  happiness,  ami  the  moment  his  affec- 
tions are  withdrawn,  or  he  ceases  to  be  a  virtuous  m;m,  h<-r 
happiness  is  dead.  If  he  is  virtuous,  faithful,  and  kind,  she 
regrets  not  the  act  of  confidence  with  which  she  gave  him 
her  heart  and  hand.  But  what  if  he  trifles  with  her  happi- 
ness ?  What  if  he  always  meets  her  with  a  frown  ?  What 
if  he  proves  false  to  his  vows?  What  if  he  becomes  a 
wretched  drunkard  ?  Now  what  is  the  foundation  and  the 
source  of  its  strength  ?  Confidence ;  and  when  that  is  gone 
domestic  peace  dies.  She  has  made  a  sacrifice  of  her  hap- 
piness, and  her  earthly  felicity  is  a  wreck. 

Let  another  thought  be  suggested  here.  It  is,  that  this 
union  of  confidence  secures  an  identity  in  their  destiny. 
They  are  one — one  flesh,  said  the  Saviour — and  the  same 
events  will  now  aflect  both.  Before  this  union  the  storm 
might  have  beat  on  one  of  them,  and  sunshine  gladdened 
the  path  of  the  other.  Now  the  storm  and  the  sunshine 
come  on  both  alike.  The  light  that  gladdens  the  eyes  of 
the  one  is  also  a  pleasant  thing  to  the  other;  the  star  that 
rises  propitiously  on  one,  rises  propitiously  also  on  the  path 
of  the  other.  The  blessings  of  peace  and  joy  that  greet  the 
one,  greet  also  the  other.  There  is  one  heart,  one  pulsa- 
tion, one  breathing,  one  soul  made  up  of  the  two.  And  so 
if  calamity  comes;  if,  under  the  roof  where  they  are  to 
abide,  the  pale  destroyer  shall  come  with  stealthy  foot-tread, 
and  change  the  rose  on  the  cheek  of  a  smiling  babe  to  the 
lily  of  death,  it  will  be  a  scene  in  which  both  their  hearts 
will  bleed  alike,  and  they  will  weep  together  over  the  open 
grave.  If  one  is  sad,  both  are  sad;  if  one  is  poor,  both  are 
poor.  Their  union,  one  pre-eminently  of  mutual  faiih 
plighted  before  the  altar,  constitutes  an  identity  in  all  the 
great  events  of  life,  and  secures  to  both  substantially  the 
same  treatment  from  the  Great  Disposer  of  all  things. 
They  share  the  same  fortune;  the  same  honour  or  dis- 
grace; the  same  sorrows  and  the  same  joys;  they  are 


HOW    SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  99 

wafted  on  to  a  port  of  bliss  or  are  wrecked  in  the  same 
vessel ;  they  are  greeted  with  the  same  welcome  in  life, 
they  are  buried  in  the  same  grave.  It  is  easy  to  apply  this 
illustration  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

(3.)  The  third  illustration  is,  that  faith  is  of  such  a  nature 
that  it  is  adapted  to  meet  all  the  evils  of  the  world.  The 
idea  is,  that  it  has  been  made  the  hinge  or  turning  point  of 
salvation,  because  the  want  of  it  has  been  the  source  of  all 
the  calamities  which  man  has  suffered,  and  because,  if  this 
is  restored,  the  evil  of  the  world  would  be  at  an  end. 

The  grand  evil  on  earth,  and  the  source  of  all  subordinate 
evils,  is  a  want  of  confidence  in  God.  This  was  the  evil  at 
the  start,  that  man  reposed  more  confidence  in  the  teachings 
of  the  tempter,  than  in  the  law  of  he  Creator,  and  this  has 
been  the  source  of  all  our  woe.  Man  has  no  confidence  in  his 
God.  He  does  not  believe  that  the  Most  High  is  qualified  for 
universal  empire ;  that  he  manages  the  affairs  of  the  universe 
well;  that  his  law  is  equal  and  just;  that  his  dispensations 
are  in  accordance  with  equity ;  that  his  plan  of  salvation  is 
wise.  He  does  not  show  his  confidence  in  him  by  yielding 
implicit  obedience  to  his  laws,  or  by  submitting  to  his  dis- 
pensations. He  does  not  go  to  him  and  ask  counsel  of  him 
in  the  darknesses  and  perplexities  of  life ;  he  does  not  seek 
support  in  his  arms  in  times  of  calamity.  He  does  not  com- 
mit his  great  interests  to  him,  believing  that  he  will  be  his 
guide  through  life,  and  that  he  will  yet  make  "  all  things 
work  together  for  good."  He  confides  in  other  things.  He 
confides  in  his  own  strength,  till  his  strength  fails;  in  his 
philosophy  till  it  deludes  and  deceives  him ;  in  his  fellow- 
men  till  they  all  betray  him ;  in  friends  and  kindred,  till 
they  drop  into  the  grave;  in  his  skill  and  sagacity,  till  he 
comes  to  a  place  in  life  where  "  the  right  hand  loses  its 
cunning."  He  confides  in  stocks  and  stones,  in  graven 
images,  and  fourfooted  beasts  and  creeping  things,  but  by 
nature  he  has  no  confidence  in  God. 


100  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JU&  WITH   GOD? 

This  is  the  grand  evil  of  the  world ;  this  the  source  of 
all  our  woes ;  for  a  want  of  confidence  here  produces  the 
same  kind  of  evils,  though  on  a  larger  scale,  as  the 
isame  want  everywhere.  We  have  seen  that  the  welfare  of 
society  depends  on  mutual  confidence.  Now,  to  see  how 
wretched  any  society  can  possibly  be,  we  have  only  to  sup- 
pose the  existence  there  of  the  same  want  of  confidence 
which  subsists  between  man  and  his  Maker.  If  a  perfectly 
malignant  being  wished  to  diffuse  as  much  misery  as  possi- 
ble through  the  world,  all  that  he  could  desire  would  be 
to  break  up  universal  faith.  He  would  go  into  a  com- 
munity, and  with  the  touch  of  a  magic  wand  would  in  a 
moment  destroy  all  confidence  in  each  merchant,  bank  and 
insurance  office,  and  lawyer,  and  physician,  and  clergyman. 
He  would  go  into  each  school,  and  destroy  all  confidence  in 
the  instructor.  He  would  go  into  each  family,  and  destroy 
everywhere  the  mutual  confidence  of  husband  and  wife, 
and  introduce  universal  distrust  and  jealousy.  He  would 
unsettle  the  faith  of  every  child  in  his  father,  of  every 
brother  in  his  sister.  What  would  be  the  result?  He 
would  at  once  arrest  the  wheels  of  commerce ;  put  an  end 
to  business '}  make  every  professional  man  useless  and 
wretched ;  take  away  sleep  from  the  pillow  of  every  husband 
and  wife,  and  fill  every  family,  and  the  whole  community 
with  heart-burnings,  jealousies,  contentions,  and  strifes.  No 
man  would  know  in  whom  to  trust;  no  one  could  form  a 
plan  dependent  in  any  manner  on  the  fidelity  of  others;  no 
one  could  be  certain  that  any  of  his  purposes  of  life  could 
be  effected.  The  scene  at  Babel  would  be  reacted  again  all 
over  the  world,  and  worse  disorder  than  that  which  followed 
from  confounding  the  language  of  the  people  there,  would 
pervade  all  classes  and  conditions  of  mankind.  The  remedy 
for  such  a  state  of  things  would  be  the  restoration  of  mutual 
confidence.  In  such  a  condition  of  ill,  nothing  would  have 
so  far-reaching  an  effect.  It  would  in  fact  meet  all  those 


HOW   SHALL  MAN   BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  101 

ills  and  make  society  harmonious  and  happy.  The  wheels 
of  commerce,  of  government,  of  domestic  peace,  of  public 
improvement,  of  education,  would  again  roll  on  harmoniously, 
and  happiness  would  again  bless  the  world.  The  want  of 
faith  or  confidence  in  God  has  produced  all  the  ills  on  earth, 
of  which  those  just  supposed  are  but  an  emblem  \  the  re- 
storation of  confidence  in  God  would  strike  at  the  root  of  all 
those  ills,  and  make  this  a  happy  world.  It  is  this  which 
makes  heaven  happy,  where  every  being  has  faith  in  God 
and  in  all  that  dwell  there ;  and  with  all  our  wants 
and  sadnesses  this  too  would  be  a  happy  world,  if  there 
were  universal  confidence  in  God.  In  our  sorrows  we  should 
then  have  peace,  for  we  should  believe  that  all  is  well 
ordered ;  under  our  heavy  burdens  of  life  we  should  find 
support,  for  we  would  go  and  roll  all  on  his  arm ;  in  all  the 
dark  and  perplexing  questions  that  now  agitate  us  about  the 
introduction  of  moral  evil  and  the  prevalence  of  iniquity, 
our  minds  would  be  calm,  for  we  should  feel  that  there  was 
a  reason  for  it  all,  and  in  the  prospect  of  death — that  which 
now  makes  us  so  sad — our  hearts  would  find  more  than 
peace — we  should  utter  the  language  of  joy  and  triumph, 
for  it  would  be  only  the  coming  of  a  messenger  to  bear  us 
to  a  much  loved  Father's  arms.  The  grand  thing  that  needs 
to  be  done  on  earth  to  make  this  a  happy  world,  is  to  restore 
universal  confidence  in  God,  and  this  is  the  whole  aim  of 
religion,  this  the  object  of  the  scheme  of  redemption. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  faith  is  laid  at  the  foundation  of  the 
whole  scheme ;  it  is  the  cardinal  thing  in  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion. This  restored,  what  a  happy  world,  after  all,  would 
this  be  !  For  it  is  a  beautiful  world.  It  is  full  of  the 
proofs  of  God's  goodness  and  love.  There  are  a  thousand 
comforts  that  meet  us  everyday  and  every  night;  and  a 
thousand  tender  chords  that  should  bind  us  to  our  Creator. 
If  we  confided  in  him  as  qualified  for  universal  empire ;  if 

•we  felt  that  he  was  fit  to  manage  the  affairs  of  his  own 

9* 


102  HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUSt  WITH  GOD  ? 

world ;  if  we  believed  that  he  will  yet  bring  order  out  of 
confusion  and  light  out  of  darkness ;  if  we  trusted  that  his 
law  is  good  and  his  commandments  holy,  and  if  we  would 
go  to  him  with  the  confiding  spirit  with  which  a  little  child 
goes  and  tells  all  his  troubles  to  his  father,  this  would  be 
still  a  happy  world.  For  that  grand  undertaking  of  the 
almighty  Father  of  us  all,  to  restore  unwavering  confidence 
in  himself,  manifested  in  the  Gospel,  the  world  should  be 
unfeignedly  thankful,  and  one  of  the  principal  topics  of 
praise  on  earth  should  be,  that  he  has  required  faith  as  the 
very  elementary  principle  of  his  religion. 

(4.)  A  fourth  remark,  in  explanation  of  the  subject,  is  that 
faith  is  required,  or  is  made  the  condition  of  justification,  for 
this  reason  : — There  is  an  obvious  propriety  that,  where  sal- 
vation is  provided  and  offered,  there  should  be  some  act  on 
our  part  signifying  our  acceptance  of  it.  If  we  are  to  be 
saved  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  there  should  be  some 
reason  on  our  part  why  we  should  be.  There  should  be 
some  act  indicating  our  wish  or  our  will ;  some  expression 
of  our  desire  in  the  case ;  something  that  shall  serve  to  dis- 
tinguish us  from  those  who  are  not  saved.  It  evidently 
would  not  be  proper,  it  would  not  be  consulting  the  nature 
which  God  has  given  us,  to  receive  the  race  indiscriminately 
into  heaven  without  any  intimation  of  a  wish  to  be  saved, 
or  to  save  one  part  and  leave  the  other,  unless  there  were 
something  that  would  indicate  in  the  one  a  desire  to  be 
saved,  which  did  not  exist  in  the  case  of  the  other.  What 
would  better  show  this  than  faith  ?  What  would  be  a  bet- 
ter expression  of  a  desire  to  be  saved  ?  What  act  would 
be  more  appropriate  in  accepting  salvation  ;  in  the  intimat- 
ing of  a  wish  that  the  benefits  of  the  death  of  Christ  might 
be  ours?  What  would  constitute  a  stronger  bond  between 
the  soul  and  him  than  this ;  what  would  come  nearer  to- 
ward constituting  that  identity  on  which  it  is  proper  that 
those  who  are  united  should  be  treated  alike  ?  You  are  a 


HOW    SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST    WITH   GOD?  103 

father ;  you  have  two  sons.  They  both  become  disobedient. 
They  leave  your  house  at  their  pleasure;  go  -where  they 
choose;  are  out  at  such  hours  as  suit  their  convenience; 
keep  such  company  as  they  desire,  and  are  wholly  regard- 
less of  your  laws.  They  heed  neither  your  promises  nor  your 
threats,  and  they  have  gone  so  far  that  they  have  now  no 
confidence  in  you.  You  have  favours  which  you  are  willing 
to  bestow  on  them.  You  would  be  willing  to  receive  them 
to  your  house,  and  to  treat  them  as  sons,  alike  in  your  life- 
time and  in  your  will.  But  would  you  think  it  unreasona- 
ble that,  as  a  condition  of  their  being  received  and  treated 
as  sons,  they  should  evince  returning  confidence  in  you? 
And  if  one  of  them  should  return,  and  should  ever  onward 
manifest  the  confidence  due  from  a  son  to  a  father,  and  the 
other  should  not,  would  you  think  it  improper  to  make  a 
distinction  between  them  in  your  lifetime  and  in  your  will  ? 
And  would  they  and  the  world  be  at  a  loss  for  a  reason  why 
it  was  done  ?  The  remark  here  is,  that  faith  in  Christ  is 
the  appropriate  act  by  which  we  accept  of  the  benefits  of 
his  work,  and  that  this  constitutes  a  difference  between  him 
who  accepts  of  his  salvation  and  him  who  does  not ;  and 
that  this  is  a  reason  why  the  one  should  be  treated  as  if  he 
were  interested  in  those  benefits  and  the  other  not;  that 
is  a  reason  why  the  one  is  justified  and  the  other  not. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  remarks  now  made,  that  a  restora- 
tion to  confidence  would  meet  innumerable  evils  in  a  family, 
in  a  commercial  community,  between  neighbours  and  be- 
tween nations,  and  that  the  restoration  of  confidence  in 
God  would  meet  all  the  evils  under  which  this  world  labours 
now,  I  proceed  to  show  why  faith  in  Christ  particularly 
is  made  so  important  as  a  condition  of  salvation.  With 
reference  to  this,  three  remarks  may  be  made  : — 

(1.)  The  first  is,  that  we  are  to  repose  faith  or  confidence 
in  Christ  as  authorized  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  reconcilia- 
tion between  God  and  man.  The  whole  system  of  revealed 


104     HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD? 

religion  proceeds  on  the  fact — a  fact  which  is  apparent  with- 
out any  revelation — that  an  alienation  exists  between  God 
and  man,  or  that  man  is  in  a  state  of  revolt.  It  was 
with  reference  to  this  alienation  that  the  Son  of  God  came 
into  the  world  to  accomplish  the  most  difficult  of  all  un- 
dertakings, that  of  reconciling  opposing  minds,  and  of 
bringing  them  into  harmony.  On  the  one  hand,  there  was 
the  infinite  mind  of  God,  whose  law  had  been  violated,  and 
whose  government  had  been  rejected  and  outraged,  and 
whose  threatenings  had  been  disregarded ;  and  on  the  other, 
there  were  countless  millions  of  minds  wholly  alienated  from 
the  Creator.  To  bring  the  holy  Creator  and  the  millions  of 
rebellious  minds  into  harmony;  to  propose  the  terms  on 
which  God  was  willing  to  forgive  sin ;  to  make  such  ar- 
rangements as  that  he  could  consistently  pardon  ;  and  to 
bring  the  minds  of  revolted  men  to  a  willingness  to  be  re- 
conciled, was  the  work  undertaken  by  this  great  peace- 
maker. 

But  it  is  evident  that  this  work  could  not  be  accom- 
plished, unless  confidence  was  reposed  in  him  by  both  the 
parties  of  the  unhappy  controversy.  In  infinitely  smaller 
matters,  when  nations  are  alienated,  if  a  mediator  proposes 
arrangements  of  peace,  or  if  ambassadors  are  appointed  to 
negotiate  a  peace,  it  is  clear  that  the  matter  could  not  pro- 
ceed a  step  unless  there  were  confidence  on  both  sides  in 
in  the  mediator  or  ambassadors. 

Christ  is  a  great  mediator ;  a  peace-maker  between  God 
and  man.  On  the  part  of  God,  there  was  every  reason  to 
repose  entire  confidence  in  him  in  so  great  an  undertaking, 
for  he  was  his  only  begotten  Son ;  eternally  in  his  bosom, 
and  loved,  with  an  infinite  love,  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world.  John  xvii.  24.  By  him  the  worlds  had  been 
made;  (John  i.  3  ;  Heb.  i.  21;)  and  under  him,  with  re- 
ference to  the  work  of  redemption,  their  affairs  had  been 
administered  up  to  the  time  when  he  appeared  in  the  flesh. 


HOW   SHALL    MAN   BE   JUST    WITH   GOD?  105 

God  the  Father  reposed  unlimited  confidence  in  him  when 
he  appointed  him  to  be  the  mediator,  and  intrusted  to  him 
the  execution  of  the  great  purpose  of  reconciling  the  world 
again  to  the  divine  government.  This  confidence  reposed 
in  Christ  in  the  work  of  mediation,  is  often  referred  to  iu 
the  New  Testament,  by  the  Saviour  himself,  and  by  the 
sacred  penmen  :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son/'  was  declared 
from  heaven  at  his  baptism,  "in  whom  I  am  well  pleased/' 
Matt.  iii.  17.  "Father,"  said  the  Saviour,  just  before  his 
death,  "  glorify  thy  name.  Then  came  there  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  I  have  both  glorified  it,  and  will  glorify  it 
again."  John  xii.  28.  "Thou  hast  given  him  power," 
said  he  again,  "  over  all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal 
life  to  as  many  as  thou  hast  given  him."  John  xvii.  2. 
"  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth ;  go 
ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations."  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  19. 
"I  am  the  way,"  said  he,  "  and  the  truth,  and  the  life;  no 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  John  xiv.  6.  So 
we  are  told,  that  "  there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus."  1  Tim.  xi.  5. 

These  things  show  the  degree  of  confidence  which  the 
Father  reposed  in  him  in  the  work  of  mediation — intrusting 
to  him  the  message  of  mercy ;  appointing  him  to  convey  it 
to  men ;  and  endowing  him  as  Mediator,  with  all  the  power 
and  authority  which  were  requisite  to  accomplish  so  great  a 
work. 

But  confidence  in  him  is  not  less  required  in  regard  to 
the  other  party  than  by  him  who  had  appointed  him.  It  is 
clear  that,  unless  we  have  confidence  in  him  as  the  messen- 
ger and  ambassador  of  God ;  unless  we  regard  him  as  sent 
from  heaven,  and  as  authorized  to  propose  terms  of  recon- 
ciliation ;  unless  we  feel  that  he  can  make  a  definite  arrange- 
ment, and  that  what  he  proposes  will  be  sanctioned  by  God; 
unless  we  feel  that  he  is  authorized  to  propose  terms  of  par- 
don, and  to  declare  our  sins  forgiven,  and  to  pronounce  us 


106  HOW    SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST!  WITH  GOD  ? 

accepted  and  justified,  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  avail 
ourselves  of  any  arrangement  for  salvation  through  him. 
We  should  feel  that  we  were  trifling  with  a  great  subject ; 
and  in  our  serious  moments,  when  we  thought  of  the  great 
interests  at  stake,  we  should  be  in  no  humour  to  trifle. 
None  of  us  would  seriously  think  of  embracing  any  terms 
of  reconciliation  with  God  proposed  by  Mohammed,  or  Zo- 
roaster, or  Confucius ;  by  Lord  Herbert  or  Mr.  Hume ;  for 
we  do  not  suppose  that  any  of  these  men  were  authorized 
to  propose  terms  of  salvation.  We  have  no  confidence  in 
them  as  ambassadors  of  God,  whatever  we  may  think  of 
them  in  other  respects.  The  primary  ground  of  faith,  there- 
fore, in  Christ,  is,  that  we  have  confidence  in  him  as  a  me- 
diator, an  ambassador,  a  peace-maker ;  as  authorized  to  pro- 
pose to  us  the  terms  on  which  peace  may  be  obtained  with 
our  offended  Creator.  "  If  ye  b  lieve  not  that  I  am  he,  ye 
shall  die  in  your  sins."  John  viii.  24. 

(2.)  The  second  remark  to  which  we  referred,  showing 
specifically  why  faith  in  Christ  is  demanded,  is,  that  it  is  by 
his  agency  and  merits  only  that  we  c;<n  be  received  into  the 
favour  of  God.  He  came  not  only  to  bring  the  message  of 
reconciliation,  and  to  propose  the  terms,  but  to  do  and  to 
suffer  whatever  was  necessary  to  be  done,  in  or.ler  that  we 
might  be  accepted  of  the  Father,  or  in  order  that  we  might 
be  saved  consistently  with  the  interests  of  justice.  The 
case  somewhat  resembles  what  it  would  be  in  the  instance 
of  an  ambassador  coming  to  negotiate  a  peace  who  should 
not  only  come  to  propose  the  terms,  but  should  actually  have 
in  his  possession  that  which  alone  could  be  regarded  as  a 
reparation  for  wrong  done  by  one  of  the  parties  to  the  other, 
and  who  should  come  not  only  to  persuade  the  party  which 
had  done  the  wrong  to  be  willing  to  be  reconciled,  but  also 
to  avail  itself  of  what  he  was  ready  to  furnish  to  repair  all 
the  evil  done,  and  to  satisfy  the  other  party.  In  such  a 
case,  it  would  not  be  unreasonable  to  ask  confidence  in  him- 


HOW   SHALL    MAN   BE  JUST   WITH   GOD?  107 

self,  or  to  make  this  one  of  the  conditions  by  which  the 
favour  might  be  available.  In  fact,  it  could  not  be  con- 
sistently made  available  in  any  other  way,  or  on  any  other 
conditions,  and,  unless  there  were  faith  in  him,  the  nego- 
tiation could  proceed  na  further. 

Thus  we  are  required  to  exercise  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus. 
We  are  destitute  of  merit.  We  have  violated  the  law  of 
God,  and  can  do  nothing  to  repair  the  wrong.  We  are 
debtors,  to  an  incalculable  amount,  to  justice  ;  and  we  have 
nothing  with  which  to  pay  the  debt.  We  can  do  absolutely 
nothing  to  vindicate  our  own  conduct ;  to  undo  the  evils 
that  we  have  done ;  to  make  up  for  the  dishonour  which  we 
have  put  on  the  law  of  God ;  to  atone  for  our  thousands  of 
faults  and  follies.  At  this  point  the  Son  of  God  appears, 
and  he  comes  with  the  assurance  that  he  has  himself  per- 
fectly obeyed  the  law,  and  has  honoured  it  as  fully  as  it 
can  be  honoured  by  obedience;  that  he  has  suffered  a 
most  bitter  death — a  death  aggravated  by  every  form  of 
cruelty — as  an  expiation  for  our  sins;  that  he  will  become 
the  guarantee  or  surety  that  the  law  shall  suffer  no  disho- 
nour if  we  are  saved ;  that  no  injury  shall  result  from  our 
pardon,  and  that,  in  fact,  all  the  good  effects  have  been  se- 
cured by  his  death  which  could  be  by  our  being  doomed  to 
bear  the  penalty  of  the  law  ourselves ;  and  that  all  that 
is  needful  for  us  now  is  to  become  united  to  him  by  an  in- 
dissoluble bond  to  put  ourselves  under  his  protection ;  and 
to  be  so  identified  with  him  that  it  will  be  proper  to  treat 
us  as  if  we  had  personally  obeyed  the  law,  or  borne  its 
penalty.  That  which  will  constitute  the  closest  union  in 
the  case,  and  which  will  do  most  to  render  this  identity  of 
treatment  proper,  is  confidence  in  him  as  our  Saviour,  and 
reliance  ou  his  merits,  or  faith. 

(3.)  The  third  remark  necessary  to  explain  the  subject, 
or  to  show  why  faith  in  Christ  is  made  the  turning  point  of 
justification  and  salvation  is;  that  the  act  of  believing  ^n 


108  HOW    SHALL    MAN   BE   JUStf  WITH    GOD? 

Christ  is  made  in  circumstances  and  in  a  manner  indicating 
confidence  of  the  highest  kind  that  ever  exists  in  the  human 
bosom,  constituting  a  union  of  the  closest  conceivable  na- 
ture. It  is  an  act  so  identifying  the  soul  and  the  Saviour 
as  to  make  it  proper  that  the  same  treatment  which  the 
Redeemer  receives  should  in  this  measure  be  received  by  his 
people,  or  that  in  the  divine  treatment  they  should  be  prac- 
tically regarded  as  one.  The  circumstances  are  these  : — 

(a)  The  sinner  feels  that  he  is  lost  and  ruined.  He  is 
made  sensible  that  he  is  guilty  before  God,  and  that  he  has 
no  claim  to  his  mercy.  His  heart  is  evil ;  his  life  has  been 
evil;  his  whole  soul  is  evil.  If  justice  were  done  him,  he 
feels  that  he  would  be  forever  banished  from  God  and  hea- 
ven. Yet  he  feels  that  he  has  a  soul  of  infinite  value. 
It  is  to  endure  forever.  It  is  capable,  in  the  long  eter- 
nity before,  it,  of  suffering  more  than  the  aggregate  of  all 
the  sorrows  that  have  yet  been  endured  on  earth,  and  in 
hell.  It  is  capable,  also,  in  that  infinite  duration,  of  enjoy- 
ing more  than  the  aggregate  of  bliss  of  all  that  has  been 
experienced  on  earth  united  with  all  that  has  been  known  in 
heaven.  A  boundless  eternity  is  before  the  trembling  sin- 
ner, and  infinite  interests  are  at  stake. 

(5)  He  despairs  of  salvation  in  himself.  He  feels  now  that 
he  has  no  power  to  rescue  his  soul  from  death.  He  cannot 
confide  in  his  own  arm,  or  in  the  arm  of  any  mortal.  He 
has  tried  every  method  of  salvation  ;  every  way  of  obtaining 
peace  of  conscience ;  every  plan  that  proposed  security  to 
his  soul,  but  in  vain.  He  stands  now  a  lost  and  ruined 
being  trembling  on  the  shores  of  eternity.  The  boundless 
ocean  spreads  out  before  him.  Clouds  and  darkness  rest 
upon  it.  He  has  deserved  no  mercy ;  he  has  no  claim  on 
God  to  be  his  guide  and  protector ;  he  can  urge  no  reason 
why  he  should  be  admitted  to  a  world  of  peace. 

(c)  In  these  sad  and  perilous  circumstances,  he  commits 
bis  soul  with  all  its  infinite  and  eternal  interests,  into  the 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE   JUST  WITH  GOD?  109 

hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  By  a  simple  act  of  faith  he  em- 
braces him  as  his  Saviour,  his  friend,  his  sacrifice,  his  advo- 
cate. Renouncing  all  confidence  in  his  own  merit,  he  re- 
solves to  rely  on  the  merit  of  Christ ;  abandoning  every 
plea  on  the  ground  of  what  he  has  himself  done,  he  resolves 
to  urge  the  merits  of  the  Saviour  as  his  plea,  and  forsaking 
forever  all  reliance  for  salvation  on  birth  or  blood  ;  on  moral 
virtues  or  intellectual  attainments ;  on  rank  in  life  or  the 
commendation  of  friends ;  on  the  goodness  of  his  own  heart 
or  on  forms  in  religion,  he  stakes  his  own  everlasting  inte- 
rest and  the  question  of  his  final  salvation  on  the  belief  that 
there  is  a  Saviour,  and  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  and 
that  he  is  able  and  willing  to  save  him.  He  is  willing  to 
risk  the  issue  on  this  belief,  and  he  who  was  a  moment  be- 
fore trembling  on  the  verge  of  hell  as  {/"'there  were  no  hope, 
now  calmly  turns  the  eye  to  heaven,  and  smiles  through  his 
tears  and  says,  "I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am 
persuaded  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  com- 
mitted unto  him  against  that  day." 

(d)  This  is  a  wonderful  act  of  confidence.  That  is  great 
confidence  which  is  evinced  when  a  drowning  man  seizes  a 
rope  that  is  thrown  to  him,  and  suspends  the  question  of 
his  safety  on  the  belief  that  you  can  draw  him  to  the  shore. 
That  would  be  great  confidence  which  the  man  who  was 
shipwrecked,  and  who  had  clambered  up  a  projecting  rock 
above  the  reach  of  the  waves,  should  evince  if  he  would 
fasten  a  rope  let  down  from  above  around  his  body,  and 
swing  off  over  the  raging  billows,  trusting  to  the  rope  and 
the  strength  of  those  above  to  draw  him  up.  And  that  is 
great  confidence  in  a  case  already  referred  to  where  a  deli- 
cately framed  youthful  female  leaves  her  mother  and  fa- 
ther and  commits  herself,  for  weal  or  wo,  into  the  hands  of 
a  comparative  stranger.  But  such  acts  are  not  equal  to 
that  by  which  the  dying  soul  commits  itself  to  the  Saviour 

They  will  hardly  do  for  an  illustration.     For  what  are  the 

10 


110  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUSTJ  WITH   GOD  ? 

raging  waves  of  the  ocean  compared  with  the  rolling  fires 
of  the  world  of  despair?  What  is  the  perilled  death  of 
the  body  compared  with  the  death  of  the  soul  ?  What  are 
all  the  temporal  interests  which  youth,  or  beauty,  or  vir- 
tue can  commit  to  another  here,  compared  with  those  eter- 
nal interests  which  are  intrusted  to  the  Son  of  God  ?  It 
remains  then  only  to  add  : 

(e)  That  in  virtue  of  such  a  union  there  should  be  iden- 
tity of  treatment.  So  we  saw  in  the  illustration  of  the 
husband  and  wife,  where  the  union  between  them  led  on 
common  sorrows  and  common  joys ;  common  successes  and 
common  reverses  ;  common  sunshine  and  common  shade. 
Much  more  should  it  be  so  in  the  more  tender  and  close 
union  of  the  soul  to  the  Saviour  by  the  act  of  faith.  They 
become  one.  He  is  the  "  vine,"  they  are  the  "  branches ;" 
he  the  "  head,"  they  the  "  members ;"  he  lives  in  them 
and  dwells  in  them.  He  is  "  Christ  in  us  the  hope  of 
glory."  "  We  are  members  of  his  body,  his  flesh,  and  his 
bones."  "  I  live,"  says  the  apostle,  "  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me."  "  Because  I  live,"  said  the  Saviour,  "  ye 
shall  live  also."  Through  all  life's  future  scenes  his  people 
will  be  treated  as  he  was ;  and  the  union  with  him  is  so 
close  that  it  introduces  them  to  common  joys  and  triumphs 
with  him  forever.  They  will  be  made  happy  because  the 
same  blessings  that  descend  on  the  "  head"  will  flow  to  all 
the  "  members." 

In  view  of  these  remarks,  the  following  thoughts  may  be 
suggested  : — 

(1.)  The  simplicity  and  ease  of  the  way  of  salvation  in  the 
Gospel  are  remarkable.  The  leading  thing  required  of  him 
who  would  be  saved  is  faith  or  confidence  in  the  Redeemer. 
Thus  Paul  said  to  the  trembling  jailer  at  Philippi,  "  Be- 
lieve on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
Acts  xvi.  31.  So  again  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  "  If 
thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  Ill 

shalfc  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from 
the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the  heart  man 
believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession 
is  made  unto  salvation/'  Rom.  x.  9,  10.  Here,  as  every- 
where in  the  New  Testament,  salvation  is  represented  as 
easy.  The  terms  are  as  simple  as  possible.  There  is  no 
requisition  of  our  attempting  to  obey  the  whole  law  of  God 
as  a  condition  of  salvation  j  no  demand  on  us  to  offer  costly 
sacrifices,  or  to  make  pilgrimages  to  a  distant  shrine,  or  to 
practise  penances  and  fastings,  or  to  lacerate  the  body,  or 
to  attempt  to  work  out  a  righteousness  by  conformity  to 
external  forms,  or  by  union  to  a  particular  church.  The 
simple,  the  single  thing  demanded  is  faith  on  the  Son  of 
God.  If  man  has  this,  he  is  safe.  No  matter  what  his 
past  life  has  been ;  no  matter  what  his  complexion,  rank, 
or  apparel  j  no  matter  where  he  lives  or  dies ;  no  matter 
whether  he  worships  in  a  splendid  temple  or  under  the  open 
vault  of  heaven,  and  no  matter  whether  his  body  rests  in 
consecrated  ground  or  amid  the  corals  of  the  ocean,  he  is  a 
child  of  God  and  an  heir  of  the  kingdom.  Whatever  may 
be  said  of  this  plan  of  salvation,  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  is 
not  sufficiently  simple,  and  that  it  does  not  breathe  a  spirit 
of  benignity  toward  the  lost  and  ruined  children  of  men. 
The  infidel  cannot  object  that  God  has  not  adapted  it  to  the 
condition  of  human  nature  at  it  is — made  up,  for  the  most 
part,  of  the  ignorant,  the  down-trodden,  and  of  children; 
nor  that  it  has  required  more  of  any  man  than  the  human 
powers  can  render.  Yet, 

(2  )  While  thus  simple  and  easy,  it  is  on  the  great  prin- 
ciples which  we  see  everywhere  prevail.  There  is  required 
in  salvation  that  which  keeps  the  social  world  together,  and 
causes  human  things  to  move  on  in  harmony — that  without 
which  all  the  interests  of  man  would  be  a  wreck.  There  is 
required  that  which  would  arrest  all  human  ills,  and  make 


112  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUSfl   WITH   GOD? 

this  still  a  happy  world — confidence  in  our  God.  Man 
wants  but  this  to  make  him  a  happy  being  here ;  he  wil» 
want  but  this  to  make  him  happy  forever.  As  confidence  is 
the  great  principle  which  cements  society,  so  it  was  indis- 
pensable in  religion  that  confidence  in  God  should  be  re- 
stored. We  cannot  conceive  that  a  human  being  could  be 
saved  without  faith.  Even  if  it  had  not  been  distinctly  and 
formally  required  in  the  plan,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive 
that  there  could  have  been  salvation  without  it.  The  very 
process  of  returning  to  God  from  our  wanderings  implies 
returning  confidence  in  him — for  how  or  why  should  the 
sinner  return  to  him  if  he  has  no  confidence  in  him  ?  And 
how  could  he  be  happy  in  heaven  if  he  had  no  confidence 
in  God  ?  What  would  heaven  be  if  there  were  the  same 
distrust  of  the  Deity,  and  the  same  jarring  opinions,  and 
the  same  alienation  from  him,  and  the  same  doubt  of  his 
being,  his  justice,  and  his  goodness  there  which  exist  on 
earth  ?  The  plan  of  salvation  by  faith  is  laid  in  the  deep- 
est philosophy — and  is  based  on  the  irreversible  nature  of 
things. 

(3.)  The  subject  suggests  a  remark  on  the  nature  and  aims 
of  infidelity.  Men  often  think  that  unbelief  is  a  harmless 
thing.  They  sometimes  regard  it  as  a  special  proof  of 
meritorious  independence  to  be  an  infidel.  They  pride 
themselves  on  their  philosophy,  and  their  freedom  from 
vulgar  prejudices  and  priestcraft — perhaps  on  their  freedom 
from  the  prejudices  instilled  by  a  pious  parent,  a  pastor,  or 
a  Sunday-school  teacher.  They  consider  the  denunciations 
of  unbelief  in  the  gospel  as  singularly  harsh,  and  use  no 
measured  terms  in  expressing  their  abhorrence  of  a  system 
which  denounces  the  eternal  pains  of  hell  on  a  man  because 
he  will  not  believe.  The  want  of  faith,  say  they,  is  a  harm- 
less or  a  meritorious  thing.  But  are  you  connected  with  a 
bank  ?  Would  you  think  that  a  harmless  effort  in  a  daily 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH   GOD?  113 

paper  which  should  attempt  to  unsettle  the  confidence  of 
the  community  in  your  institution  ?  Have  you  a  character 
for  virtue,  which  you  have  secured  by  years  of  toil,  and  of 
upright  deportment  ?  Is  that  a  harmless  report  in  the  com- 
munity which  tends  to  destroy  all  confidence  in  that  charac- 
ter ?  Are  you  a  father  ?  Is  it  a  harmless  effort  of  your 
neighbour  when  he  attempts  to  unsettle  the  confidence  of 
your  own  children  in  your  virtue  ?  Are  you  a  husband  ? 
Is  he  a  harmless  man  who  shall  aim  to  unsettle  your  faith 
in  the  wife  of  your  bosom,  and  produce  between  you  and 
her  an  utter  want  of  confidence  ?  And  is  there  no  evil 
in  that  state  of  mind  where  there  is  no  confidence  in  God 
that  rules  on  high — the  God  that  made  us,  and  that  holds 
our  destiny  in  his  hands?  Is  it  nothing  to  unsettle  the 
faith  of  man  in  his  God,  and- to  introduce  universal  distrust 
in  his  government  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  inculcate  or  cherish 
the  thought  that  the  governor  of  the  world  is  a  dark,  ma- 
lignant, harsh,  and  severe  being,  and  to  alienate  the  affec- 
tions of  creation  from  its  God  ?  Let  the  history  of  the 
earth  answer.  All  our  evils  began  in  that  unhappy  mo- 
ment when  our  first  parents  lost  their  confidence  in  their 
God.  "  Loss  of  Eden,"  toil,  sweat,  despair,  perplexity  and 
death,  tell  what  the  evil  was.  Calamities  have  rolled  along 
in  black  and  angry  surges,  and  the  dark  flood  still  swells 
and  heaves  upon  the  earth.  Peace  will  be  restored  and 
paradise  regained  only  when  man  is  restored  to  confidence  in 
his  God — and  this  is  the  grand  and  glorious  work  of  the 
gospel.  This  done  in  any  heart,  and  its  "  peace  becomes  as 
a  river  and  its  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  the  sea."  This 
done  all  over  the  earth,  and  millennial  joy  will  visit  the 
nations.  This  done,  as  successive  individuals  or  generations 
leave  the  world,  death  is  disarmed  of  his  sting,  for  the 
departing  soul  leaves  with  full  assurance  of  faith  on  the 
Saviour. 

10* 


114  HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUSU  WITH  GOD  ? 

VIII.  The  bearing  and  importance  of  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification ly  faith. 

The  points  which  have  been  illustrated  in  the  previous 
sections  are  the  following : — The  importance  of  the  inquiry 
how  man  can  be  justified  with  God ;  the  fact  that  man  cannot 
justify  or  vindicate  himself  by  denying  the  truth  of  the 
charges  against  him ;  the  fact  that  he  cannot  do  it  by  show- 
ing that  he  had  a  right  to  do  as  he  has  done ;  the  fact  that 
he  cannot  merit  salvation;  what  is  to  be  understood  by  the 
merits  of  Christ ;  in  what  sense  we  are  justified  by  the 
merits  of  Christ ;  and  the  agency  of  faith  in  our  justifica- 
tion. It  is  proposed  now,  in  the  conclusion  of  the  subject, 
to  refer  to  some  historical  illustrations  of  the  value  and  in- 
fluence of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  and  to  show 
why  it  has  the  place  which  history  has  assigned  it. 

In  illustrating  the  value  and  influence  of  the  doctrine  as 
shown  by  history,  three  periods  of  the  world  may  be  briefly 
referred  to. 

(1.)  The  first  is  the  age  of  the  apostles,  when,  perhaps, 
the  effect  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  was  more 
vividly  seen  than  it  has  ever  been  since.  That  this  was  the 
doctrine  which  Paul  preached ;  which  he  made  prominent 
in  his  writings;  and  which  he  everywhere  defended,  no 
one  acquainted  with  his  history  can  for  a  moment  doubt. 
It  would  be  needless  here  to  transcribe  the  passages  of  his 
writings  which  declare  his  views  on  this  point ;  or  which 
show  how  earnestly  he  expressed  his  convictions  of  its  truth 
and  importance.  Everywhere  he  maintained  that  a  man  is 
not  justified  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  but  by  the  righteous- 
ness of  faith ;  that  we  are  saved  not  by  works  of  righteous- 
ness which  we  have  done ;  that  they  that  are  under  the  law 
are  under  the  curse ;  and  that  they  who  are  justified  by 
faith  have  peace  with  God  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
In  the  most  earnest  and  emphatic  manner  he  abjured  all 
dependence  on  his  own  merits  for  salvation ;  disclaimed  all 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  115 

reliance  on  the  extraordinary  zeal  for  religion  which  he  had 
manifested  in  early  life,  and  on  his  own  blameless  outward 
deportment,  and  declared  it  now  to  be  the  grand  purpose  of 
his  soul  to  "  know  Christ,  and  to  be  found  in  him,  not  hav- 
ing his  own  righteousness  which  was  of  the  law,  but  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith."  Phil.  iii.  9.  In 
this  he  coincided  with  all  the  other  apostles,  who  taught,  as 
he  did,  that  no  reliance  was  to  be  placed  on  outward  forms 
of  religion,  on  good  works,  on  an  amiable  character,  or  on 
alms,  as  the  ground  of  salvation.  It  was  then  that  the  doc- 
trine of  simple  dependence  on  Christ  for  salvation  went 
forth  with  freshness  and  with  power.  It  was  unencum- 
bered by  any  attending  doctrine  of  a  different  character  to 
fetter  its  movements ;  or  to  hinder  its  progress  through  the 
world.  There  was  no  necessity  proclaimed  of  depending  on 
rites  or  forms  of  religion ;  no  reverence  for  sacred  places 
inculcated  as  necessary  to  salvation ;  no  connection  with  a 
particular  church  organized  under  a  peculiar  ministry,  was 
declared  to  be  essential ;  no  saving  efficacy  was  attributed 
to  sacraments  and  to  alms ;  no  merits  of  the  holy  men  of 
other  ages  could  be  depended  upon  to  make  up  the  deficiency 
of  those  who  sought  to  be  saved  ;  no  promise  was  held  out 
that  the  dead  might  be  saved  through  the  extraordinary 
sacrifices  and  benevolence  of  the  living.  The  naked  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ  stood  out  before  the 
world  ;  fresh  in  its  youthful  vigour  ;  with  no  trappings  or 
ornaments  to  hide  and  obscure  it ;  a  simple,  solemn,  sublime 
truth  that  all  might  appreciate  and  that  might  be  available 
to  all.  This  was  then  the  sword  of  the  spirit — slaying  hu- 
man pride;  cutting  down  the  self-righteousness  of  men; 
prostrating  the  great  and  the  mean,  the  learned  and  the 
unlearned,  the  patrician  and  the  plebeian,  the  master  and 
the  slave,  the  man  in  purple  and  the  man  in  rags,  alike — 
a  sword  whose  keenness  was  not  rendered  useless  then  by 
being  hid  in  a  gorgeous  scabbard. 


116     HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  *  WITH  GOD? 

The  doctrine  thus  promulgated  by  the  apostle  stood  op- 
posed to  the  prevailing  views  of  all  the  world.  It  waa 
opposed  to  all  the  aims  of  the  Pharisees — the  essential  tenet 
of  whose  religion  was  expressed  graphically  and  honestly 
by  one  of  their  own  number,  "  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I 
am  not  as  other  men  are."  It  stood  opposed  to  all  the  views 
of  the  Sadducees,  who  held  to  the  necessity  of  no  kind  of 
religion,  denying  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  future  state.  It 
stood  opposed  to  the  Essenes,  the  remaining  Jewish  sect, 
who  sought  to  work  out  their  salvation  by  extraordinary 
fastings  and  privations,  and  by  exclusion  from  contact  with 
the  world.  It  stood  opposed  to  the  whole  system  of  sacri- 
fices among  the  heathen,  seeking  to  propitiate  the  gods,  and 
to  render  themselves  accepted  by  dependence  on  the  forms 
of  religion ;  and  it  was  at  variance"  with  all  the  views  of 
philosophy — the  pride  of  the  Stoic,  confident  in  his  own 
righteousness ;  the  licentiousness  of  the  Epicurean,  justify- 
ing his  own  voluptuousness ;  and  the  self-complacency  of 
the  sage,  who  relied  on  his  own  wisdom.  An  apostle  could 
go  nowhere  where  the  doctrine  would  not  come  in  conflict 
with  all  the  prevailing  views  in  regard  to  the  way  in  which 
men  might  be  saved.  Yet  no  one  now  can  be  ignorant  of 
the  effect  of  this  doctrine  as  promulgated  by  the  apostles. 
It  changed  the  religion  of  the  world,  for  Christianity  made 
no  other  advances  than  as  it  taught  men  to  renounce  every 
other  ground  of  dependence  and  to  rely  for  salvation  solely 
on  the  merits  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  had  no  martial 
power  by  which  to  make  its  way ;  it  had  no  influence  de- 
rived from  name  and  rank  to  enforce  its  claim ;  it  had  no 
authority  derived  from  a  venerable  antiquity  on  which  to 
rely ;  it  had  no  gorgeous  and  imposing  forms  to  enable  it 
to  command  the  respect  of  those  who  had  worshipped  in 
the  Parthenon  or  the  Pantheon ;  it  had  no  claims  to  any 
new  discoveries  in  philosophy.  It  had  but  one  thing  that 
was  new,  great,  improving,  commanding,  and  that  was  the 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  117 

announcement  of  Christ  crucified,  and  the  fact  that  men 
everywhere  might  now  be  justified  by  the  merits  of  his 
atoning  blood.  Never  has  any  truth  on  any  subject  stood 
more  by  itself,  to  make  its  own  way  without  adventitious 
aid,  than  this  did  in  the  hands  of  the  Christian  apostles, 
and  never  before  had  any  single  truth  on  any  subject  pro- 
duced such  changes  in  the  world. 

(2.)  The  second  fact,  to  which  reference  will  be  made,  is 
the  state  of  the  world  when  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith  was  obscured  and  almost  extinguished  in  the  Church. 
It  soon  began  to  be  obscured.  Very  early  the  professed 
friends  of  religion  began  to  lose  sight  of  it.  So  strong  in 
the  human  mind  is  the  love  of  pomp  and  ceremony  and 
form ;  so  attached  is  man  to  splendour  and  show  in  religion 
as  in  every  thing  else ;  so  prone  is  the  heart  to  rely  on  its 
own  doings ;  and  so  reluctant  is  the  sinner  everywhere  to 
depend  for  salvation  on  the  righteousness  of  another,  that 
this  doctrine  gradually  died  away  and  almost  ceased  to  be 
remembered  in  the  church.  Then  arose  the  system  which 
spread  night  all  over  the  Christian  world — the  night  of 
ignorance,  error,  superstition,  and  crime — a  night  deepening 
for  ages  till  it  terminated  in  the  consummate  depravity  of 
the  Papacy  under  Alexander  VI.  Under  this  forgetful- 
ness  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  or  of  salvation 
by  simple  dependence  on  Christ  crucified,  arose  the  univer- 
sal respect  for  sacred  places  and  orders  of  men ;  zeal  for 
splendid  temples  of  worship  and  for  gorgeous  ceremonies ; 
extraordinary  veneration  for  the  sepulchres  of  saints,  and 
for  their  holy  remains  ;  pilgrimages  to  the  holy  land ;  the 
doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  and  of  absolution  of  sins 
by  the  imposition  of  holy  hands ;  the  belief  that  grace  was 
imparted  by  sacraments  administered  by  a  priesthood ;  the 
doctrine  that  the  merits  of  the  saints  of  other  days  were 
garnered  up  for  the  benefit  of  future  ages  and  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Church;  the  multiplication  of  sacraments 


118  HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE  JUSf  WITH  GOD? 

with  saving  efficacy  attributed  to  them  all,  and  the  belief 
of  a  peculiar  sacredness  attached  to  ground  consecrated  to 
the  burial  of  the  dead.  All  these  were  features  of  one 
great  system.  They  had  some  relation  to  Christianity,  and 
had  grown  in  part  out  of  the  abuse  of  its  doctrines.  But 
though  various,  they  were  arranged  evidently  under  the 
auspices  of  one  master  mind  and  with  the  same  end  in 
view.  That  was  to  render  nugatory  the  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith,  and  to  substitute  in  its  place  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  by  works.  It  was,  indeed,  salvation  by  works 
connected  with  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  was  a  different 
system  from  that  of  the  Pharisee  who  expected  to  be  saved 
by  conformity  to  the  law  of  Moses ;  or  the  Grecian  philoso- 
pher who  hoped  to  reach  heaven  by  the  purity  of  his  doc- 
trine and  his  morals;  or  the  degraded  pagan  who  relied  on  the 
blood  of  his  sacrifices ;  or  the  man  now"  who  relies  on  his 
own  honesty  and  fidelity  in  the  various  relations  of  life ;  but 
it  was  essentially  the  same  system.  It  excluded  the  simple 
dependence  of  the  soul  on  the  Lord  Jesus  for  salvation,  and 
substituted  in  its  stead  a  reliance  on  human  merit. 

The  effect  was  seen  in  the  darkness,  sin,  and  corruption 
of  Europe  before  the  Reformation.  Every  feature  of  the 
state  of  things  in  the  "dark  ages"  can  be  traced  to  an 
obscuring  of  the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
Every  advance  of  society  into  that  deep  and  deepening 
gloom  was  connected  with  some  loosening  of  its  hold  on 
that  doctrine,  and  the  substitution  of  something  else  in  ita 
place,  until  the  hold  was  entirely  gone,  and  Europe  wa? 
plunged  in  total  night. 

(3.)  The  third  historical  fact,  therefore,  to  be  referred  to, 
is  the  effect  which  the  recovery  and  restoration  of  this  doc- 
trine had  on  the  Church  and  the  world  at  the  period  of  the 
Reformation.  To  those  who  have  studied  the  history  of 
that  period,  as  all  Protestants  should  do,  it  is  unnecessary 
to  say  that  this  was  the  elementary  doctrine — the  central 


HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  119 

view — the  starting  point — in  the  whole  of  that  glorious 
revolution.  This  was  the  great  truth  that  dawned  on  the 
mind  of  Luther,  and  which  led  to  all  that  he  attempted  and 
accomplished  for  the  restoration  of  the  Church  to  its  primi- 
tive purity,  and  it  occupied  an  equally  central  position  in 
the  view  of  all  his  fellow-labourers.  Three  times  was  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  brought  before  the  mind 
of  Luther,  with  the  same  sort  of  power  which  it  had  when 
promulgated  by  the  apostles,  and  with  such  energy  as  to 
rouse  all  that  was  great  in  his  soul  into  life.  The  first  was 
when  he  was  a  monk  in  his  cell.  He  had  found  a  copy  of 
the  Bible,  and  he  began  to  study  it  and  to  lecture  on  it. 
He  commenced  with  the  Psalms,  but  soon  passed  to  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  One  day  having  proceeded  as  far 
as  the  seventeenth  verse  of  the  first  chapter,  the  words 
quoted  from  Habakkuk — "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith" — 
arrested  his  attention.  A  new  thought  struck  him.  A 
new  way  of  salvation  opened  before  his  mind.  A  new 
light  shone  upon  his  heart,  and  the  words  "  the  just  shall 
live  by  faith"  seemed  never  to  leave  him.  The  second  in- 
stance was  when  he  first  visited  Rome.  These  words  fol- 
lowed him  and  lingered  on  his  ear.  One  of  his  first  im- 
pressions was  that  he  was  now  in  the  very  place  to  which 
Paul  had  addressed  these  words  in  his  epistle.  Yet  in  that 
city  how  were  they  obscured  and  unknown  !  On  every 
hand  were  arrangements  for  being  justified  by  works — by 
forms  and  ceremonies;  by  pomp  and  pageantry;  by  the 
merits  of  the  saints,  and  by  penance.  What  a  total  ob- 
scuration of  the  great  doctrine  which  Paul  had  taught  in 
the  letter  to  the  Church  there,  and  which  he  had  himself 
doubtless  taught  when  he  had  dwelt  in  that  city  !  The 
third  instance  in  which  these  words  were  brought  to  the 
heart  of  Luther  was  more  impressive  still.  "  One  day 
wishing  to  obtain  an  indulgence  promised  by  the  pope  to 
any  one  who  should  ascend  on  his  knees  what  is  called 


120  HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST*  WITH   GOD  ? 

'Pilate's  stair-case'  the  poor  Saxon  monk  was  slowly 
climbing  those  steps  which  they  told  him  had  been  miracu- 
lously transported  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome.  But  while  he 
was  going  through  this  meritorious  work  he  thought  he 
heard  a  voice,  like  thunder,  speaking  from  the  depths  of  his 
heart,  <  The  just  shall  live  by  faith'  He  started  up  in 
terror  on  the  steps  up  which  he  had  been  crawling ;  he  was 
horrified  at  himself;  and,  struck  with  shame  for  the  degra- 
tion  to  which  superstition  had  debased  him,  he  fled  from 
the  scene  of  his  folly.  This  powerful  text  had  a  myste- 
rious influence  on  the  life  of  Luther.  It  was  a  creative 
word  for  the  Reformer  and  for  the  Reformation." — D'Au- 
bigne.  It  was  this  truth  that  wrought  out  the  Reformation : 
and  whatever  there  was  in  that  work  that  is  valuable  and 
precious ;  whatever  there  was  to  shed  a  benign  influence  on 
literature,  liberty  and  morals ;  whatever  there  was  to  spread 
pure  religion  over  Switzerland,  or  G-ermany,  or  England,  or 
ultimately  over  our  own  land,  and  then  by  a  reflex  influence 
on  Asia  Minor,  on  Palestine,  on  the  palmy  East,  on  dark 
Africa,  and  on  the  islands  of  the  sea,  is  to  be  traced  to 
those  moments  when  this  text  broke  with  so  much  living 
power  on  the  soul  of  Luther: — "The  just  shall  live  by 
faith/'  It  became  with  him  an  elementary  truth,  that  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  was  the  "article  of  the 
standing  or  the  falling  church" — the  very  joint  or  hinge 
(articulus)  on  which  the  whole  depended.*  To  that  doc- 
trine we  owe,  in  its  various  developments,  all  that  we  value 
in  this  Protestant  land,  and  all  that  distinguishes  us  in  reli- 
gion from  what  Europe  was  in  the  days  of  Alexander  VI. 
and  Leo  X. ;  and  there  is  not  an  interest  of  religion,  liberty, 
or  learning,  which  has  not  been  moulded  by  it  more  than 
by  any  other  single  cause.  Our  modes  of  worship;  our 
readiness  to  spread  the  Bible ;  our  freedom  of  discussion ; 

*  "Articulus  etantis  vel  cadentis  eccfesia." 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  121 

our  general  diffusion  of  intelligence;  our  untrammelled 
press ;  our  separation  of  religion  from  the  state ;  our  socie- 
ties for  the  spread  of  the  gospel ;  our  blessed  and  glorious 
revivals;  our  deliverance  from  superstition,  and  from  the 
tyranny  of  a  priesthood,  and  from  the  corruptions  and 
abominations  of  the  monastic  system,  and  from  the  debase- 
ment of  penance  and  pilgrimages,  are  all  to  be  traced  to  the 
power  of  this  single  truth  that  blazed  with  such  an  intensity 
on  the  soul  of  the  poor  Saxon  monk.  Such  being  some  of 
the  facts  in  the  case,  let  us, 

I.  Inquire  why  this  doctrine  has  this  importance  and 
power.  This  will  be  seen  if  we  can  trace  its  connection 
with  what  it  has  been  undeniably  everywhere  united  with — 
a  religion  of  deep  spirituality ;  of  simplicity  of  worship ; 
of  deadness  to  the  world ;  of  freedom  of  opinion ;  of  liberal 
views,  and  of  great  and  cheerful  sacrifices  for  the  good  of 
mankind.  There  are  but  two  systems  of  religion  on  the 
earth  :  the  one  is  that  of  self-righteousness ;  the  other  that 
of  salvation  by  the  merits  of  Christ ;  the  one  that  of  men 
who  attempt,  in  various  ways,  to  justify  themselves  before 
God ;  the  other,  that  of  those  who  seek  to  be  justified 
through  the  righteousness  of  the  Redeemer.  The  bearing 
and  importance  of  the  latter,  in  contrast  with  the  former,  is 
the  point  now  before  us. 

(1.)  This  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  has  a  power  of 
reaching  the  soul  and  of  calling  forth  every  active  energy 
of  our  nature  which  the  other  system  never  can  have.  It 
leaves  the  impresion  that  the  soul  is  of  vast  value ;  that 
religion  is  of  inestimable  importance ;  that  the  grand  pur- 
pose of  living  should  be  religion.  The  reason  of  this,  which 
may  not  at  once  be  apparent,  is,  that  it  finds  the  soul  in  such 
a  state,  wherever  it  is  embraced,  that  it  arouses  all  that  is 
thrilling,  and  vast,  and  momentous  in  the  soul  itself,  and  in 
its  hopes  and  relations.  The  language  which  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  addresses  to  each  individual  is  this  : 


122  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUS1J  WITH   GOD? 

"  You  are  a  lost  sinner.  You  have  no  righteousness  of 
your  own.  You  never  will  have  any.  Your  heart  is  by 
nature  depraved,  and  your  whole  past  life  has  been  evil.  In 
all  that  you  have  done,  you  have  done  nothing  to  merit  the 
favour  of  God,  or  even  to  commend  yourself  to  his  appro- 
bation. All  your  righteousness  is  as  filthy  rags.  All  your 
outward  forms  of  religion ;  your  fastings,  penance,  and 
vows;  your  amiableness  of  character,  your  honesty,  your 
integrity,  your  pride  of  birth  and  station,  are  all  to  pass  for 
nothing  before  God  in  the  matter  of  justification.  Nor  can 
you  hope  of  yourself  to  do  any  thing  more  in  the  future 
that  will  commend  you  to  God  than  you  have  done  in  the 
past.  No  form  of  religion ;  no  flood  of  tears ;  no  framing 
of  the  life  by  an  outward  law }  no  acts  of  self-denial ;  no 
fastings,  prayers,  or  almsgivings  can  wipe  away  the  deep 
stains  of  past  guilt  on  the  soul,  or  constitute  an  expiation 
for  what  you  have  done.  In  this  state  you  are  near  the 
grave,  and  just  over  the  world  of  wo.  A  moment  might 
cut  you  off  from  the  land  of  the  living,  and  from  the  pos- 
sibility of  being  saved.  In  this  state  you  are  wholly  de- 
pendent on  the  sovereign  mercy  of  God.  You  may  be 
saved,  but  not  by  works  of  righteousness  of  your  own. 
You  may  be  saved,  but  it  must  be  by  renouncing  all  de- 
pendence on  your  own  righteousness  forever.  You  may  be 
saved,  but  it  must  be  wholly  by  the  merits  of  another. 
Kings,  sages,  philosophers,  priests,  poets,  warriors,  knights, 
senators,  judges ;  the  gay,  the  accomplished,  the  rich,  the 
poor,  the  vile,  the  bond,  the  free ;  all  lie  on  a  level 
before  God.  You  may  be  saved ;  but  it  will  only  be  by 
your  making  up  the  mind  to  a  willingness  to  be  saved  in 
the  same  way  as  the  vilest  of  the  species,  and  to  stand  be- 
fore the  throne  clothed  in  the  same  robes  of  salvation  that 
shall  adorn  the  most  debased  and  down-trodden  of  the 
human  race.  Now  it  is  easy  to  conceive,  even  for  those 
who  have  not  experienced  this,  that  such  a  religion  must 


HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  123 

have  the  elements  of  great  power  of  some  kind.  It  can 
make  its  way  only  by  sufficient  power  to  crush  the  pride  of 
man ;  to  bring  down  his  lofty  thoughts  \  to  humble  him  in 
the  dust,  and  then  by  imparting  life  where  there  was  none. 
There  is  nothing  negative  and  tame  about  it.  It  has  living 
energy  through  all  this  process.  No  man  reaches  the  posi- 
tion of  self-abasement  and  self-renunciation  where  this  doc- 
trine finds  him,  without  a  struggle  with  his  own  pride.  To 
come  down  there  and  to  lie  thus  low  before  God,  is  the  result 
of  mighty  power  on  a  proud  man's  soul,  and  is  no  neutral 
or  unmeaning  thing.  It  is  not  the  work  of  ease  and  of 
effeminacy,  and  the  business  of  a  holiday,  for  a  man  to  re- 
nounce all  his  own  righteousness,  and  to  be  willing  to  ac- 
knowledge, before  heaven,  and  earth,  and  hell,  that  he  is  so 
great  a  sinner  that  he  ought  to  be  excluded  from  heaven, 
and  banished  from  the  earth  and  be  doomed  to  unspeak- 
able torments  forever  in  hell.  And  it  is  not  an  unmean- 
ing thing  when  in  this  state  a  voice  from  heaven  bids 
him  rise  from  the  dust,  and  go  forth  a  pardoned  man,  a 
renovated  being,  a  child  of  God,  an  heir  of  heaven. 

Accordingly  this  is  the  doctrine  which  arouses  the  world. 
It  was  this  which  produced  the  commotions  in  the  apostolic 
times,  when  it  was  said,  "These  that  have  turned  the 
world  upside  down  are  come  hither  also."  It  was  this 
which  produced  so  much  excitement  at  Jerusalem,  at  An- 
tioch,  at  Philippi.  It  was  this  which  aroused  Europe  in  the 
Reformation.  It  is  this  whose  power  is  seen  in  every  re- 
vival of  religion.  It  is  this  whose  energy  is  felt  in  the 
efforts  made  to  carry  religion  around  the  globe. 

To  illustrate  what  has  been  now  said,  reference  may  be 
made  to  the  case  of  two  individuals  who  have  stated  the 
effect  of  this  doctrine  on  their  own  minds.  The  first  is 
that  of  the  apostle  Paul.  It  is  found  in  the  epistle  to  the 
Philippians.  "  If  any  other  man  thinketh  that  he  hath 
whereof  he  might  trust  in  the  flesh,  I  more  :  circumcised 


124     HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST] WITH  GOD? 

the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin, an  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews ;  as  touching  the  law, 
a  Pharisee;  concerning  zeal,  persecuting  the  church; 
touching  the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law,  blameless. 
But  what  things  were  gain  to  me,  those  I  counted  loss  for 
Christ.  Yea  doubtless,  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the 
excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord.  Chap, 
iii.  4-8.  The  other  is  a  record  of  Luther's  feelings  by 
himself  when  he  was  first  made  to  understand  this  doctrine. 
"  Though  as  a  monk,"  says  he,  "I  was  holy  and  irreproach- 
able, my  conscience  was  still  filled  with  trouble  and  torment. 
I  could  not  endure  the  expression — c  The  righteous  justice 
of  God/  I  did  not  love  that  just  and  holy  Being  who 
punishes  sinners.  I  felt  a  secret  anger  against  him ;  I 
hated  him  because,  not  satisfied  with  terrifying  by  his  law 
and  by  the  miseries  of  life  poor  creatures  already  ruined  by 
original  sin,  he  aggravated  our  sufferings  by  the  gospel.  But 
when  by  the  Spirit  of  God  I  understood  these  words — when 
I  learnt  how  the  justification  of  the  sinner  proceeds  from 
God's  mere  mercy  by  the  way  of  faith — then  I  felt  myself 
born  again  as -a  new  man,  and  I  entered  by  an  open  door 
into  the  very  paradise  of  God.  From  that  hour  I  saw  the 
precious  and  Holy  Scriptures  with  new  eyes.  I  went 
through  the  whole  Bible.  I  collected  a  multitude  of  pas- 
sages which  taught  me  what  the  work  of  God  was.  And 
as  I  had  before  heartily  hated'  the  expression,  i  The  right- 
eousness of  God/  I  began  from  that  time  to  value  and  to 
love  it  as  the  sweetest  and  most  consolatory  truth.  Truly 
this  text  of  St.  Paul  was  to  me  as  the  very  gate  of  heaven." 
— DJ  Aubigne. 

To  a  soul  thus  lost  and  ruined,  this  doctrine  always  has 
this  power.  To  others  it  has  neither  power  nor  beauty,  nor 
can  we  hope  that  it  will  make  its  way  among  men  except 
where  the  soul  is  deeply  aroused  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
Then  it  is  what  it  is  so  often  said  to  be  in  the  Scriptures, 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  125 

"The  power  of  God  :"  it  is  His  mighty  energy  quickening 
the  soul  that  was  dead  in  sin  to  newness  of  life. 

(2.)  The  second  remark  illustrating  its  bearing  and  im- 
portance, will  be  drawn  from  the  contrast  of  this  doctrine 
with  the  opposite.  It  has  already  been  observed  that  there 
are,  in  fact,  but  two  kinds  of  religion  on  the  earth,  that  of 
self-righteousness  and  that  of  dependence  on  another  for 
salvation ;  that  in  which  man  attempts  to  justify  himself, 
and  that  in  which  he  relies  for  justification  on  the  merits  of 
the  Son  of  God.  These  systems  divide  the  world;  for, 
however  numerous  may  be  the  methods  by  which  men  at- 
tempt to  save  themselves,  they  all  have  this  essential 
characteristic,  that  they  are  systems  of  self-righteousness. 
What  are  the  characteristics  of  these  two  systems  ?  What 
would  be  the  tendency  of  each  of  them  ?  Let  them  be 
put  in  contrast,  and  what  must  be  the  effect  of  each  of  them  ? 
The  effect  of  the  one — of  the  plan  of  justification  by  faith 
— we  have  already  in  part  seen.  Its  obvious  tendency  must 
be  to  produce  humility,  penitence,  gratitude,  a  simple  re- 
liance on  the  Saviour,  a  disposition  to  make  him  all  in  all 
in  religion.  What  are  the  effects  of  the  opposite  system  ? 
They  must  be  such  as  these  : — 

(a)  Pride.  "  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other 
men  are,"  is  its  language  all  over  the  world. 

(6)  A  multiplication  of  forms,  and  a  reliance  on  them. 
Religion  becomes  an  outward  thing,  not  a  work  of  the 
heart.  So  it  was  with  the  Pharisees,  the  Greeks,  the  Ro- 
mans '•)  so  it  is  now  in  the  pagan  world,  among  Moham- 
medans, and  in  all  the  perverted  forms  of  Christianity.  It 
matters  little  what  the  outward  form  is ;  but  where  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  is  obscured  or  unknown,  religion  must 
degenerate  into  heartless  forms.  It  makes  up  for  its  want 
of  vital  power  by  the  multiplication  of  rites  and  ceremonies. 
It  adds  a  new  ceremony  for  every  step  of  departure  from 

11* 


126     HOW  SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  jWITH  GOD? 

the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith ;  it  attaches  an  addi- 
tional sacredness  to  them  as  this  doctrine  is  obscured,  and 
where  this  is  wholly  lost  out  of  view,  religion  becomes 
merely  a  punctilious  performance  of  imposing  rites,  a  care- 
ful observance  of  forms.  A  man,  when  he  thinks  of  death 
and  the  judgment,  must  have  some  righteousness  on  which 
to  rely.  If  it  be  not  that  of  the  Saviour,  and  if  it  be  the 
pretence  of  religion  at  all,  it  must  be  that  consisting  of  a 
sacred  reverence  for  forms. 

(c)  The  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
will  be  always  attended  with  superstition.     There  will  be 
an  attempt  to  merit  heaven  by  reverencing  dead  men's 
bones,  by  pilgrimages,  by  bodily  torture,  by  seclusion  from 
the  world,  by  garnishing  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous, 
and  by  imploring  the  intercession  of  departed  saints.     The 
world  must  make  up  its  mind  to  have  the  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication by  faith  held  in  its  purity,  or  to  have  a  religion  of 
superstition  substituted  in  its  place.     One  or  the  other  has 
prevailed  always ;  one  has  always  excluded  the  other ;  the 
suppression  of  the  one  has  been  the  occasion  of  the  intro- 
duction of  the  other ;  and  one  or  the  other  will  live  to  the 
end  of  time.     The  question  is  now  before  this  country 
whether  we  shall  cling  to  the  great  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith,  or  whether  we  shall  go  abroad  and  import  all  the 
superstitions  of  heathenism,  whether  original  or  baptized 
at  Rome ;  whether  we  shall  adhere  to  the  grand  truth  which 
was  the  element  in  the  Reformation,  or  take  Christianity, 
so  called,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Alexander  VI.  and  Leo  X. 

(d)  The  system  which  denies  this  doctrine  has  been,  from 
some  cause,  an  exclusive  and  a  persecuting  system.     To 
whatever  this  fact  may  be  traced,  of  the  fact  itself  there 
can  be  no  doubt.     The  history  of  the  world  has  confirmed 
it,  and  that  history  has  taught  us  that  if  we  would  be  free 
from  the  evils  of  an  exclusive  and  a  persecuting  system,  we 


HOW  SHALL   MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  127 

must  hold  in  its  simplicity  and  its  purity  the  great  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith. 

(3.)  A  third  thing  illustrating  its  bearing  and  import- 
ance, is  the  fact  that  it  is  connected  with  freedom  of  thought 
and  the  advancement  of  society.  The  fact  here  is  more 
apparent  than  the  reason  of  it.  No  one  acquainted  with 
history  will  dispute  the  fact  that  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  has  been  held  with  the  most  simplicity  and  purity 
in  the  times  when  freedom  of  thought  has  most  prevailed 
and  in  the  lands  most  characterized  for  it.  And  no  one 
can  doubt  that  the  denial  of  the  doctrine,  and  the  denial  of 
the  right  of  free  inquiry,  have  gone  together.  It  was  the 
same  system,  which  denied  by  all  its  arrangements  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith,  which  imprisoned  Galileo. 
The  Inquisition  grew  up  in  lands  where  this  doctrine  was 
denied,  and  has  flourished  there  only,  and  could  live  no- 
where else.  The  proclamation  of  this  doctrine  in  Europe 
by  Luther  and  his  fellow-labourers  unfettered  the  human 
mind  and  abolished  the  Inquisition;  and  nothing  can  be 
clearer  than  that  no  circumstances  could  ever  arise  in  any 
land  in  which  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  simple  faith 
in  Christ  is  held  in  which  such  an  institution  could  be  esta- 
blished ;  and  we  may  be  certain  that,  as  long  as  we  can  assert 
this  doctrine  in  its  purity  throughout  all  our  borders,  we 
shall  be  free  from  thumb-screws,  and  racks,  and  auto-da-fes, 
and  dark  dungeons  made  to  incarcerate  the  advocate  of  any 
religious  belief.  Whatever  else  we  may  be  subjected  to, 
this  doctrine  will  be  a  palladium  to  us,  not  fabled  as  was 
the  image  of  Minerva,  but  a  reality  to  secure  for  us  the 
protection  of  heaven. 

The  reasons  of  the  fact  which  is  now  adverted  to,  would 
be  found  in  such  considerations  as  these  : — That  in  this 
doctrine  there  is  nothing  which  we  wish  to  conceal  j  that  it 
depends  for  its  support  on  nothing  which  may  not  be  fully 


128  HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  jWITH   GOD? 

examined;  that  it  recognises  everywhere  the  equality  of 
men ;  that  it  asks  no  patronage  from  the  state ;  that  it 
relies  for  its  advancement  on  its  own  simple  power  as  truth — 
as  commending  itself  to  the  conscience  and  the  reason  of 
mankind,  and  as  finding  a  response  in  the  soul  of  every 
man  who  feels  that  he  is  a  sinner.  The  support  of  the 
other  system  is  to  be  found  in  just  the  opposite  of  these 
things.  It  cloaks  itself  in  mystery.  It  seeks  to  establish 
the  claims  of  a  priesthood  composed  of  a  superior  order  of  men, 
and  this  must  be  done  on  arguments  that  will  not  bear  the 
light.  It  is,  and  must  be  sustained  by  the  power  of  the  state. 
It  loves  a  religion  of  blind  believing  rather  than  of  reasoning. 
It  is  identified  with  all  that  human  ingenuity  can  devise  to 
substitute  a  righteousness  in  the  place  of  that  by  faith  in 
the  Saviour.  It  is  identified  with  interest — where  the  pro- 
curing of  absolution  becomes  a  matter  of  bargain  and  sale. 
And  it  is  conscious  that  the  free  examination  of  its  claims 
would  show  how  baseless  is  the  fabric  on  which  it  stands, 
and  the  worthlessness  of  all  the  devices  which  have  been 
originated  to  enable  man  to  work  out  a  righteousness  of  his 
own.  Without  pursuing  these  thoughts  further,  one  other 
remark  may  be  added.  It  is 

(4.)  That  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  is  con- 
nected with  liberality  in  religion.  We  have  seen  what  is 
the  character,  in  this  respect,  of  the  opposite  system.  It 
is  essential  to  every  other  system  that  it  be  illiberal  and 
exclusive.  The  reason  is  this.  According  to  every  such 
system,  grace  is  conveyed  only  through  a  certain  chan- 
nel. There  are  certain  men  who  alone  are  appointed  to 
dispense  it;  it  is  to  be  obtained  only  in  union  with  a 
certain  ecclesiastical  connection,  and  in  the  performance 
of  certain  specified  rites  and  ceremonies.  But  none  of 
these  things  are  essential  to  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith.  It  is  a  direct  concern  between  the  soul  and  its 


HOW   SHALL  MAN  BE  JUST  WITH  GOD?  129 

Saviour.  It  practically  removes  every  human  being  from 
any  participation  in  obtaining  for  the  sinner  the  favour  of 
God.  However  the  ministers  of  religion  may  have  been 
instrumental  in  arousing  the  attention  of  the  soul  to  its 
guilt  and  danger,  or  in  pointing  the  way  to  the  cross,  yet 
the  transaction  is  one  where  all  foreign  agency  and  all 
human  holiness  of  office  are  excluded.  It  is  not  essential 
whether  the  minister  officiates  with  or  without  a  surplice ; 
whether  in  a  plain  "  meeting-house"  or  a  magnificent  cathe- 
dral; whether  he  can  trace  his  commission  through  the 
apostolic  succession  or  not;  whether  his  doctrines  can  or 
cannot  be  sustained  by  synods  and  councils ;  nay,  whether 
there  be  any  minister  of  religion  at  all,  for  the  soul  may  be 
justified  by  simple  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  worship- 
per may  be  a  Cameronian  on  the  hills  of  Scotland  under  the 
open  heaven ;  or  a  man  who  has  strayed  somehow  into  a 
conventicle ;  or  a  wandering  savage  who  is  made  to  listen, 
to  attend,  to  be  enraptured,  till  his  eyes  pour  forth  tears 
under  the  preaching  of  some  humble  missionary  on  whose 
head  the  hands  of  a  mitred  prelate  have  never  been  laid, 
and  there  shall  be  all  the  elements  of  the  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication. What  has  occurred  to  him  on  the  hills,  or  in  the 
woods,  or  in  a  school-house,  or  in  a  church,  he  feels  may 
occur  anywhere  else  in  the  same  way.  It  will  not  become 
then  essential  to  his  view  that  the  doctrines  of  religion 
should  be  preached  on  a  hill,  or  in  a  valley ;  that  the  minis- 
ter stands  in  front  of  a  tent,  or  that  he  ministers  at  a  cer- 
tain altar ;  it  will  not  be  essential  that  he  wear  a  certain 
vestment,  or  be  able  to  trace  his  spiritual  genealogy  back  to 
far  distant  times, — what  he  wishes  to  know  is  whether  a 
man  has  experienced  in  his  own  soul  what  he  has  in  his — the 
power  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  If  he  has,  that  is  enough.  It  is  to  him  a  ques- 
tion of  comparatively  no  moment  whether  he  thinks  that 


130  HOW   SHALL    MAN   BE   JUST!   WITH   GOD? 

baptism  by  immersion  is  the  only  method ;  or  whether  he 
regards  John  Wesley  as  the  greatest  and  the  best  of  men  ;  or 
whether  he  believes  that  all  human  wisdom  was  embodied  in 
the  Westminster  Assembly  of  divines ;  or  whether  he  thinks 
that  the  ministry  exists  only  in  three  orders.  All  these 
will  be  comparative  trifles.  The  grand  matter  is,  that  the 
lost  and  guilty  soul  is  justified  by  the  blood  of  the  "everlast- 
ing covenant  •"  and  that  settles  every  thing  that  is  truly 
valuable  in  his  view  in  regard  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul. 
Such  a  system,  it  is  clear,  must  be  essentially  liberal.  It 
cannot  be  a  system  which  will  be  primarily  concerned  in 
"  questions  and  strifes  of  words"  about  the  externals  of 
religion.  It  will  recognise  in  every  man,  who  has  ever  felt 
the  efficacy  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  a  Christian  brother.  It 
will  regard  all  men  by  nature  as  essentially  on  the  same 
level  in  reference  to  salvation.  There  will  be,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  religion,  no  favoured  class,  no  holy  order ;  none,  by 
nature,  nearer  heaven  than  others,  and  none  who  shall  have 
a  right  to  prescribe  to  others  what  they  are  to  believe  or  to 
do.  One  point — one  grand  doctrine  distinguishes  them,  no 
matter  of  what  sect,  or  country,  or  complexion,  they  may 
be — that  they  are  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  same  Sa- 
viour. They  are  of  the  same  family.  They  have  the  same 
rights  in  the  kingdom  of  grace.  No  one  has  a  right,  in 
virtue  of  blood,  or  name,  or  connection  with  outward  forms 
of  religion,  to  claim  a  superior  nearness  to  heaven ;  nor,  if 
the  soul  is  justified  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  has  he  the 
right  or  the  disposition  to  withhold  the  name  of  Christian, 
or  to  say  that  a  soul  thus  justified  is  left  to  "  the  uncove- 
nanted  mercies  of  God." 

The  doctrine  which  has  been  considered  constitutes  the 
peculiarity  of  the  Protestant  religion.  Protestantism  began 
in  the  restoration  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
This,  more  than  any  thing  else,  distinguishes  the  system. 


HOW   SHALL   MAN  BE   JUST   WITH   GOD?  131 

All  there  is  of  Protestantism  that  is  of  value  is  in  this  doc- 
trine j  and  all  that  we  have  of  liberality  in  religion,  and 
freedom  from  persecution,  and  purity  of  doctrine,  is  to  be 
traced  to  this. 

The  whole  discussion  on  the  doctrine  of  justification  may 
be  closed  by  a  personal  appeal  to  those  who  may  read  this 
tract.  There  are  but  two  ways  conceivable  on  which  you 
can  be  saved.  One  is,  on  the  ground  of  your  own  right- 
eousness ;  the  other  is,  on  the  ground  of  the  righteousness 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  There  is  no  middle  way  conceivable. 
It  is  the  grand  question,  then,  and  one  in  which  every  indi- 
vidual has  the  deepest  interest,  What  is  the  ground  of 
your  reliance  ?  On  which  of  these  do  you  depend  when 
you  think  of  being  admitted  to  heaven  ?  If  you  rely  on 
the  former — on  your  own  righteousness — it  must  be  either 
because  you  can  disprove  the  facts  which  are  charged  on 
you  as  sin,  or  because,  if  the  facts  are  undeniable,  you  will 
be  able  to  vindicate  your  conduct  before  the  bar  of  the 
Almighty.  Here,  then,  it  may  be  solemnly  asked,  whether 
you  are  willing  to  rest  your  soul's  interests*m  such  a  founda- 
tion ?  Are  you  prepared  to  abide  the  issue  of  such  a  trial  ? 
Can  you  calmly  look  forward  to  such  an  investigation  of 
your  life  before  God's  bar,  and  feel  secure  when  you  think 
of  the  tremendous  interests  of  the  soul  that  are  at  stake  ? 
Are  you  prepared  to  go  up  to  meet  your  Maker  with  the 
feeling  that  your  only  hope  there  is  self-vindication  ?  It 
may  be  permitted  to  the  writer  of  this  tract,  in  view  of 
these  reasonings,  and  of  the  truths  that  have  been  suggested, 
and  in  view  also  of  the  solemn  fact  that  he,  like  those  whom 
he  addresses,  is  soon  to  stand  before  the  tribunal  where  all 
will  be  judged,  to  say,  "  I  AM  NOT.  I  turn  to  the  other 
system  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  set  before  you.  I  look 
away  from  all  that  I  have  done — the  miserable  rags  of  my 
own  righteousness — to  the  white  robe  of  salvation  wrought 


J.32  HOW   SHALL   MAN   BE   JUST?!  WITH   GOD  ? 

out  by  my  great  Redeemer,  and  seek  to  wrap  that  robe  around 
my  guilty  soul,  and  I  feel  that  if  justified  by  faith  in  his 
blood  I  shall  be  safe." 

A  guilty,  weak,  and  helpless  worm, 

On  thy  kind  arms  I  fall ; 
Be  thou  my  strength  and  righteousness, 

My  Saviour  and  my  all. 


THE  END. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  L.  JOHNSON  AND  CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

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Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


FEB29'67-8P?,l 





ws.cn. 


-' 


LD  2lA-45m-9,'67 
(H5067slO)476B 


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Uoiversi 

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